inn 


CHURCH  AND  STATE 


MEXICAN  POLITICS 


FROM 


CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ. 


i  risn  lER    >C    RA  YS. 


1  iy  W.  F\  CLOUD. 
soi  mi  r  of  rw o  w .ins. 

First  sergeant  "k,"  Co.  2d  Ohio,  Mexican  war. 
Colonel  2d  Kansas  Cavalry,  1362-5. 


KAN'S  \S   CITY.    MO. 

P^CK   .S:  CLARK,   1'KIXTJ'KS. 

—  i'Sy6.— 


Kntered,  according  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1896.  by 

COL.    W.    F.    CLOUD, 

In  the  1  >ffii-<-  n(  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  ■Washington,  D.  C. 


'  l'  ■  1 1  •  .1  ■-  !•<-■'  1.-.  1  arltoti  &  Rose,  Kansas  City. 


"Eternal  Vigilance  is  the  Price  of  Liberty  " 

to  the  above;  sentiment 
this  volume  is  approvingly  dedicated. 

"w.'b\  olotjd. 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 


1334207 


CONTKNTvS.  i 

Book  I. 

PAGK 

Chapter  I. — Introduction,  -  •  -  n 

Chapter.II. — 1492  to  1521,  -  25 

Discovery.     Conquest  ami  Occupation  of  Mexico. 
Chapter  III. — 1521  to  180S,  -  -  -  -  36  ^ 

Viceroys.     Policies.     Inhumanity.     Corruption. 
Chapter  IV.— iSdS  to  iSu,  ...  4s 

Hidalgo.    El grito  di  Dolores.    Battles.    Defeat.    Death. 
Chapter  V. — 1S11  to  1S21,  ...  '66 

Hidalgo's  Successors.     Overthrow  of  Revolution. 
Chapter  VI. — 1S21  to  1823,  ....  80 

Mexico      Independent.       Iturbide      Hmperor.        Career. 

Death. 

Chapter  VII. — 1823101831,  -  -  -  -  92 

Mexico  a  Republic.     Insurrections.     Tragedies. 
Chapter  VIII. — 1S31  to  1S44,  ....  io6 

Santa  Anna  President.     Dictator.     Overthrow. 
Chapter  IX.— 1844  to  1855,         ....  118 

Santa  Anna  re-established.     Banished.     War  with  V .  S. 

More  of  Santa  Anna  as  President  and  Refugee. 

Chapter  X. — 1855101858,  ...  -  132 

Many  Presidents.     Revolutions.    Confiscation  of  Church 

Property. 

Chapter  XI. — 1858  to  1859,  ....  ^3 

Juarez     President.      Zuloaga     Church     President.      War. 

War.     War. 

Chapter  XII. — i859toiS6i,  ....  iSj 

Continued  War.     Juarez  triumphant.     Church  defeated. 
Chapter  XIII.— 1S61  to  1S63,  ....        k,6 

Many  reforms.     Church  secures  foreign  intervention. 
Chapter  XIV.— 1863  to  1S64,         -  -  -  -      <    176 

Maximillian  Crowned  Emperor.     Monroe  Doctrine. 


6  CO  VTBNTS. 

PAGE 

Chapter  XV.— 1864  to  i866,  -  -  -  186 

Maximillian    a    failure.      French      evacuate.       Carlote 
insane. 
Chapter  XVI.— 1866  to  1867,  -  -  -        196 

Maximillian  overthrown.     Execut  ;d.     Unvailing   sym- 
pathy. 
Chapter  XVII. — 1867101872,       ....         203 

Juarez  re-elected.     Many  reforms.     Death  of  Juarez. 

Chapter  XVIII.— 1872  to  1878,  -  -  -         208 

Lerdo  President.      Revolution.      Diaz  President. 

Chapter  XIX     r878toi88o,  -  -  -       216 

raphy  of  Diaz.     Reforms.     Declines  re-election. 

Chapter  XX. — issotoiS95,        ....  227 

Gonzalez      President.       Diaz     President     three    terms. 
in  1  progress  and  elevation  of  people. 
Chapter  XXI.  ......  .         2^ 

Chronological  Table  of  Governors  of  Mexico. 
Chapter  xxii.       -..-..  240 

Miscellaneous  facts. 
CH  m-tkk  XXIII.  - 

Bull  Fight. 
Chapter  XXIV.  -  -  -  -  -  265 

me  under  X  Rays. 

Book  II. 

History   of  Texas  11  ml  of  tho  Mexican  War. 

Chapi  duction  -  -  -  -  3 

1684  to  ]  -  -  -  6 

I  occupation.    A  Mexican  State.  Outrages. 
•  to  1845,  -  I9 

Annexed  t.»  the  United  Slates. 
War.     1  s  15  to  1848,         -  -  -,2 

1  '.  ictpi  ies, 

- 
•  Cruz  and  City  of  Mexico.     Peace. 

"ii\    and  Navy.      The  .lead. 


259 


PREFACE. 


The  doors  to  the  temple  of  Janus  were  thrown  wide 
open  in  1846  and  two  nations,  Mexico  and  the  United 
States,  rushed  to  arms. 

Book  II  of  this  volume  gives  reasons  for  the  con- 
flict, its  details  and  results. 

Prompted  by  patriotism,  youthful  impulse,  and  a 
slight  ripple  in  true  love's  course,  the  writer,  clothed 
in  the  national  blue,  and  enrolled  as  a  volunteer  from 
Ohio,  found  himself  in  July,  1846,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  "with  rifle  in  his  hand." 

The  march  along  the  line  of  operations  up  to  Buena 
Vista  and  a  5^ear  of  campaigning  in  Mexico  gave  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  much  as  to  the  country  and  the  people, 
their  social,  religious  and  political  life. 

Nearly  a  half  century  of  observation  and  inquiry  as 
to  the  history  of  that  land  and  of  the  people,  supple- 
mented by  a  recent  tour  of  the  country  and  a  visit  to 
each  of  the  historic  battle-fields,  where  American  sol- 
diers gained  victory,  fame,  and  finally,  on  settlement, 
some  land — has  greatly  augmented  that  knowledge  and 
revivified  and  intensified  the  memories  and  emotions 
incident  to  the  military  campaign. 

But  intense  and  interesting  as  are  those  emotions, 
the  recent  knowledge  acquired  as  to  Mexican  politics 
has  claimed  earliest  attention.  Hence  this  volume, 
wherein  the  author  holds  strictly  to  the  powers,  parties 


s  PREFACE. 

and  politicians  who    have    impressed   themselves    and 

their  principles  upon  the  very    interesting   history    of 

Mexico  by   individual   and  combined   efforts,  and  to  a 

.minus  chain  of  results  which  have  followed. 

Much,  very  much  of  interesting  truth   about  the 

land  of  'sunshine  and  flowers^"  and  of  the  very  peculiar 

ho  inhabit  the  same  is  left  out   as   not  being 

embraced  in  the  lines  of  this  self-assumed  task.      What 

a  world  Mexico  would   have  been  under  the  control  of 

Northern  Kurope. 

lata,  the  author  has  laid  hands  upon  histories 
printed  in  both  English  and  vSpanish;  the  latter,  obtained 
in  Mexico,  contain  many  facts  which  if  ever  presented 
in  American  books,  has  escaped  his  notice. 

These  data  with  occasional  quotations,  grouped 
chronologically  into  as  condensed  form  as  possible,  are 
now  offered  to  the  public  with  the  hope  that  they  are 
not  entirely  unworthy  of  perusal. 

This   is  more  cheerfully   done  at  this  juncture  in 

i    politics,  that   facts  in  the  history  of   Mexico 

ulighten  a  deliberating  people,  to 

whom  the  matter  o\  ecclesiastical  meddling  in  national, 

ami   municipal,  political  and  educational  affairs 

me  quite  a  vital  one. 

Rome  had  her  will  as  to  such  questions 

ami    matters    lor   three    centuries   and  a   half,   and   this 

hows,  though  in  a  taint  degree,  the  results.     If 

inything   despicable  therein,  the  author  is  not 

he    simplj      narrates    facts    ami    "tells   the 

truth"  as  to  what  isticism  did  for  Mexico.     Not 

he  t'-lN  what    Mexican    statesmen  and 
ticism. 

the  Union,  whether  secret  or  other- 


1'RF.F.  ICE.  9 

wise,  whose  aim  is  to  check  and  limit  Church  control  of 
vState  questions,  including  education,  cannot  claim 
originality:  as,  by  the  truths  herein  it  will  be  seen  that 
Mexicans  did  such  work  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  and  did  it  well. 

Secret  societies,  as  Jesuits  (largely  political)  and 
of  that  ilk,  though  suppressed  in  Catholic  Mexico,  are 
not  dead,  neither  yet  sleeping  in  the  United  States;  and 
therefore  there  may'  be  great  propriety  in  patriotic 
Americans  "fighting  the  devil  with  fire." 

If  secret  political  work  is  to  be  condemned,  let  the 
rule  apply  to  emissaries  of  the  church  of  Rome  who  con- 
spire against  American  popular  education  and  against 
the  independence  of  the  State  of  any  Church  control. 

Forming  an  opinion  of  the  Romish  church  entirely 
upon  its  history  in  Mexico,  it  would  be  declared  to  be  a 
base,  sanguinary,  political  organization;  seeking  and 
using  power  for  gain  and  individual  advantage;  entirely 
destitute  of  spiritual  knowledge  or  experience  and  rest- 
ing alone  in  form.     In  that  light  the  author  treats  it. 

To  Inventors  of  Written  Language?  To  many  who 
have  written  histories,  and  especially  to  the  authors  of 
Willson's  American  history  and  Bancroft's  "Historia  de 
Mexico"  and  "Porfirio  Diaz  su  Biografia,"  gratitude  is 
hereby  expressed  for  writing,  and  writings;  otherwise 
this  book  had  not  been  open  to  your  inspection,  my 
kind  reader,  from  whom  I  crave  indulgence. 

W.   F.   CLOUD. 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  March  23,  1S96. 


History  of  Mexican  Politics. 


book:  i. 


CHAPTER  I. 


INTRODUCTION. 

IN  THE  beginning,  when  the  solar  system  was  con- 
ceived, the  orbs  constructed,  and  space  in  the  great 

family  of  systems  assigned,  the  button  was  pressed 
by  Omnific  power,  and  there  was  harmonious  un jarring 
motion. 

Then  our  earth,  fulfilling  its  part,  took  to  revolving 
on  its  axis,  having  a  surface  velocity  of  a  thousand 
miles  an  hour;  and  while  thus  revolving  it  took  a  speed 
of  a  thousand  miles  a  minute  in  its  course  around  the 
central  sun.  It  rushes  through  cold,  cold,  dark,  dark, 
limitless  space,  fortunately  carrying  a  thin  coating  of  air 
and  a  coat,  or  spots,  of  heat,  variable  in  location  and  in- 
tensity, and  a  hemisphere  of  sunlight,  also  variable, 
whereby  life  upon  its  surface  is  possible.  Thus  it  has 
continued  from — when? 

The  family  of  mankind,  who  have  peopled  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth  for  an  indefinite  time,  failed  to  note  the 
wonderful  facts  of  speed,  and  systems  of  surrounding 
worlds  until  a  comparatively  recent  period.  Inspired 
writers  omitted  to  mention  facts  as  to  nature,  science, 
mathematics,  astronomy,  geography. 

The  Great  Teacher  Himself  confined  His  statements 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

of  truth  to  a  very  limited  line  of  thought   and   observa- 
tion. 

The  concentrated  wisdom  of  man  developed  written 
language  about  forty  centuries  ago.     About,  or  a  little 
more  than,  four  centuries  have  passed  since  Copernicus 
suggested,  or  restated,  the  facts  of  the  Solar  System. 
The  bold,  persevering,  and  alleged,  heretical  navi- 
•  Columbus,  made  his  voyage  of  discovery;  and  to- 
gether the  astronomer  and  the   sailor  presented  facts 
which  were  to  revolutionize  not  only  natural  history  and 
science,   but   theology  also.     The   doctrines  of  a  flat, 
nary  earth  and  of  a  stationary  upward  heaven  were 
antagonized  and  disproved  by  the  new  education. 

Then  was  aroused  to  battle  against  popular  educa- 
tion the  best  organized  and  most  extensive  system  of 
Church   and   State  which  the  world  contains  upon  its 
surface,  and  that  fight  thus  commenced  by  the  Roman 
die  church  has  continued  to  the  present  time,  for 
there  is  an  irreconcilable   contention    between    popish 
•  and  free  and  full  knowledge. 
The  great  reformer,  Luther,  and  the  telescope-per- 
'     ilileo,  by  reason  of  the  truths  which  they  pre- 
1   and   taught,  as  to  spiritual  and  natural  things, 
both  encountered  fierce  and  severe  opposition  and  pun- 
ishment.     But  even  though  a  tongue  should  have  been 
i   i  antation  secured  at  the  command  of  the 
Church  the  world  still  moves,  and  truth  is  a  winner. 

I  torments  of  the  Inquisition,  built  and 

1    with    all    the    fiendish    hate   and    inventive 

in  Catholics,  failed  to  suppress  truth  and 

i.  The  printing  press,  coincidently  started  in  the 

•d  more  than  a  match  for  the 

aing  pres  esof  the  'Holy  Office."    The  latter 


FROM  CORTEX  TO  DIAZ.  13 

have  been  stopped,  it  is  hoped  forever,  while  the  first, 
in  more  perfected  form  continues  to  shed  light,  benefi- 
cent and  converting  light,  dissipating  the  errors  and 
cruelties  of  Rome.  A  clear  case  of  the  survival  of  the 
fittest. 

Out  from  the  midst  of  the  contest,  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  from  one  who  held  delegated  regal  power  from 
Europe,  over  a  province  in  America,  came  the  following 
utterance:  "I  thank  God  there  are  no  free  schools  nor 
printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  these  hundred 
years.  For  learning  has  brought  heresy  and  disobedi- 
ence and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  divulges 
them  and  commits  libels  against  the  government.  God 
keep  us  from  both ! ' ' 

Thus  the  Church  and  the  State  in  those  days  of  the  / 
dominance  of  Rome  detested  and  antagonized  free  J 
schools  and  the  printing  press.  ' 

The  winds  and  the  waves  were  propitious;  and  011 
the  12th  of  October,  1492,  "old  style,"  or  the  24th  of 
that  month,  "new  style,"  Columbus  realized  to  the  most 
happy  fruition  the  truth  of  the  theory  which  he  had 
matured,  by  long  reflection  and  experimental  inquiry; 
and  the  most  important  event  recorded  on  history's 
pages,  resulting  from  individual  genius  and  enterprise, 
became  an  assured  fact.  A  new  world,  or  a  new  half  of 
a  very  old  world,  was  introduced  to  the  astonished 
wiseacres  and  rulers  of  civilization,  and  the  rotundity 
of  the  earth  was  demonstrated,  to  the  disgust  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  in  which  was  embodied  the  learning 
and  the  bigotry  of  the  age. 

Yes,  a  new  world  was  discovered  and  given  over  to 
that  kind  of  civilization,  in  which  Rome  presented  and 
performed  her  will,  as  to  dealing  with  the  inhabitants 


U  HISTOR  J '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

of  the   land  and   establishing  her  policies  of  civil,  re- 

is,  and  educational  governments;  thereby  showing 

just  what  are  her  aspirations,  theories   and  intentions 

toward   all  peoples,  in  all  ages,  and   furnishing  object 

as  to  Americans  in  this  nineteenth  century  of 
Christ. 

Rome  never  changes,  is  never  reformed.  Infalli- 
bility cannot  submit  to  change  of  principle,  plan,  pur- 

nor  proc 

When  the  compiler  of  this  volume  returned  recently 
from  a  tour  of  inquiry  in  Mexico,  May,  1894,  he  heard 
a  distinguished  Roman  Catholic  priest  in  Kansas  City, 
Missouri,  deliver  an  address  before  a  Protestant  assem- 
bly in  the  Congregational  church  in  that  city,  upon  the 
position  which  Satolli,  the  "American  Pope,"  took  on 
the  question  of  the  public  school  system  of  America. 

Having  just  returned  from  Mexico,  a  country  which 
was,  f"r  three  hundred  and  fifty  years,  subject  exclu- 
sively to  the  educational  system  of  Rome,  and  having 
the  results  in  the  ignorance,  degradation  and 
superstition  of  the  people,  and  their  poverty  and  lack 
of  ambition,  he  was  very  much  surprised  to  hear  Father 
Dalton  say:  'The  Roman  Catholic  church  is  not 
understood  in  the  matter  of  education.  Instead  of 
being  opposed  to,  it  favors  the  public  school  system. 
The  Roman  Catholic  church  originated  the  public 
tem.  If  fault  is  found  with  the  public 
because  they  are  not  of  a  higher  grade, 
and  fail  in  the  extent  and  scope  of  their  instruc- 
Ther<  should  be  education  of  the  heart,  the 
mind,  the  body.  The  Church  does  not  wish  religion 
I  In  the  public  schools.     Roman  Catholics 

"""I  of  the<    .  tence  and  usefulness  of  the  public 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  15 

schools,  and  gladly  contribute  to  the  maintainance  of 
them,  and  pay  tax  for  their  support  as  cheerfully 
as  they  pay  for  their  parochial  schools.  Priests  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  church  who  declaim  against  the 
public  school  system  of  this  country  speak  only  for 
themselves  and  do  not  represent  the  Church.  Some 
Catholics  have  taught  that  each  nationality,  coming  as 
immigrants  to  this  country,  should  bring  their  Bishops 
with  them,  and  thus  maintain  their  forms  of  faith  and 
systems  of  education;  but  recognizing  as  did  the  Pope 
of  Rome  the  value  of  the  public  schools  of  America,  he 
said  'No,'  for  the  school  system  was  first  introduced  by 
Rome.  Rome  has  tried  to  follow  the  Pauline  rule  of 
being  all  things  to  all.  The  perpetuity  of  the  Church 
is  involved  in  this  matter  of  education,  and  children  to 
remain  Catholics  must  have  the  two-fold  education 
which  is  to  be  acquired  in  the  ordinary  school  and  in 
the  parochial  school." 

While  delivering  himself  of  these  assertions,  many 
of  which  are  false  to  the  knowledge  of  all,  he  failed  in 
that  ready  and  eloquent  style  which  ordinarily  character- 
izes his  platform  addresses,  and  struggled  like  a  horse 
in  quicksand;  and  one  could  hardly  suppress  the  use  of 
the  old-time  saying:  "Oh,  what  a  magnificent  liar  you 
would  make,  if  you  would  only  give  your  attention  to 
it." 

"This  is  my  grievance;  the  State  school  is  non-re- 
ligious *  *  I  put  the  question:  Ought  we  not  to  have 
in  connection  with  the  school  religious  instruction?  I 
would  permeate  the  regular  State  school  with  religion." 
— Archbishop  Ireland. 

"She  (the  Church)  has  the  right  of  subjecting  the 
study  of  philosophy,  moral  science,  and  civil  law  to 
ecclesiastical  authority." — Canon  law  of  Pius  IX,  1864. 


16  HISTOR  J '  ( )F  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

It's  (the  States)  assumption  of  the  right  to  tax  a 
powerful  minority  to  support  a  school  system  which  it 
will  not  use  must  be  resisted." — Roman  Catholic  Re- 
view. 

Rome,    April    is,    [895. — The   pope,   through   the 

I  ion  of  the  propaganda,  has  addressed  a  letter 

to  the   Canadian  bishops,  condemning  the  frequenting 

rotestant  or  neutral  schools  by  the  Catholics  of 
Manitoba. " 

The  assertion  that  "Rome  becomes  all  things  to 
all"  and  "that  children  to  remain  Catholics  must  be 
taught  in  the  parochial  schools,"  however,  should  not  be 
disputed. 

In  charity  to  Priest  Dalton,  it  may  be  said  he  spoke 
for  himself  only,  and  does  not  represent  the  Church. 

What  the  parochial  schools  of  Rome  have  done  for 
a  people  where  eeelesiasticism  had  undisputed  control 
may  be  seen   in   what  the  historian  has  written  of  our 

hbor  on  the  south.  Is  the  school  systerh  of  the 
Church  reformed5  Rome  yields  to  force  of  circum- 
stances,  at tim  comes  all  things  to  all"  for  policy's 

sake.  Hut  docs  she  ever  experience  a  change  of  heart? 
History  answers,  "Never!" 

"01  the  state  of  learning  and  education  among  the 

Mexican  people,"  (and  the  desire   on  the  part  of  the 

p  them  in  ignorance,)  "some  idea  may  be 

formed  when  it  is  considered  that  as  late  as  1S40 among 

otire  white  population  of  the  country,  not  more 

than  one  in  five  could   read   and   write;   and   among  the 

Indians  and  mixed  classes,  not  one  in  fifty;  a  startling 

republic,  and  one  of  the  prominent  causes  for 

ipa<  ity  for  sell  government  which  the  people 

I  up  to  that  time." — Willson's  American  His- 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  17 

This  ignorance  was  the  result  of  a  studied  and  sys- 
tematic effort  to  limit  the  degree  of  instruction  accorded 
to  the  people.  Whenever  any  proposition  was  made,  in 
the  early  days,  to  favor  the  education  of  the  people  as  a 
means  to  secure  their  elevation  and  advancement  the 
cry  was  made  by  the  clergy,  "that  the  elevation  of  ser- 
vants and  Indians  was  to  imperil  their  future  and  eternal 
interests."  The  restriction  of  their  education  was  with 
the  full  assent  of  the  friars  and  the  clergy,  and  they  pre- 
dicted that  instruction  was  useless,  and  would  result  in 
evil. 

The  Viceroy  Brancifort  declared  in  1795  "that  a 
knowledge  of  the  catechism  was  sufficient,  and  thus  he 
proposed  to  deprive  of  education  eighty  or  ninety  per 
cent  of  the  population." 

It  was  not  until  the  reforms  in  the  politics  and  con- 
stitution of  Mexico  in  1858-73,  when  liberty  of  teach- 
ing, of  the  press,  of  the  forum  and  of  speech  was 
secured,  that  education  was  possible  to  the  common 
people  of  that  country,  and  the  results  are  surprising 
and  gratifying. 

May  15,  1894,  at  the  opening  of  the  Catholic  Edu- 
cational Exhibit  at  the  Grand  Central  Palace  in  New 
York,  after  Archbishop  Corrigan  had  delivered  an  ad- 
dress, Congressman  Bourke  Cochran  spoke  as  follows: 
"To  declare,"  said  he,  "that  the  Catholic  church  is 
hostile  to  the  republic  is  to  declare  that  the  mother  is 
hostile  to  her  offspring.  Those  who  tell  us  that  the 
Catholic  church  or  its  educational  system  is  hostile  to 
the  government  must  speak  a  falsehood.  We  cannot 
have  it  otherwise.  What  the  church  is  doing  to-day  in 
the  parochial  schools  is  just  the  same  that  she  did  in 
ages  gone  by.      I  believe  that  the  time   has  come  when 


1 8  HIS  7  OR  I '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

Catholics  should  assert  themselves,  and  say  that  they 
are  the  men  above  all  others  whose  training  and  faith 
compel  them  to  be  live  citizens  of  this  republic." 

R..man  Catholics,  unfortunately,  have  asserted 
themselves  as  "live  citizens  of  this  republic,"  and  their 
"training  and  faith,"  applied  to  American  politics  has 
developed  Tammany  Hall.  That  organization  is  Catho- 
lic if  anything,  as  to  the  personnel  of  officers  and  mem- 
bership. 

Developments  of  recent  date  tend  to  confirm  the 
popular  estimate  of  it,  which  has  rested  upon  and  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  for  many  years,  as  the  very  personi- 
fication of  dishonesty  and  corruption,  debased,  and 
debasing  all  departments  of  business  over  which  that 
live,  active  element — the  police — Catholics  as  a  body, 
can  by  any  means  have  control,  whether  legitimate  or 
otherwise. 

Tin-  "training  and  faith"  of  its  constituents,  their 
numbers,  character  and  policies,  assure  the  people  of 
this  republic  of  continued  evil  results  upon  municipality, 
state  and  nation.  What  moral,  political  or  healthful 
religious  interest,  would  suiter  if  it  were  to  be  annihi- 

I  or — reformed?  And  for  that  matter,  what  if  a  like 
fate  should  fall  upon   Rome  in  America? 

It  had  been  hoped  by  friends  of  truth,  morality  and 

religion,  that  the  Roman  Catholic  church    had  heeded 

of  the  lessons  taught  and   illustrated  in  Protestant 

America;  but    look    at    the    latest    exhibition  of   ecclesi- 

d  power  and  discipline. 

Father    Ducey   sympathized    with    municipal   and 

I  reform,  and  lent  his  aid  to  the  movements  to  in- 
.  punish  and  annihilate  Tammany.  Archbishop 

igan,    in     Ins    holy     office     representing     Rome    in 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  19 

America  in  the  evening  of  the  nineteenth  century  of 
Christ,  administered  "canonical  reproof"  to  Father 
Ducey  for  so  doing,  and  "there  you  are."  Those  who 
swallow  Rome  must  take  her  without  expecting  reform 
condiments. 

The  crime  of  Tammany  in  politics  is  the  crime  of 
the  century,  that  of  polluting  the  American  ballot. 
What  political  crime  compares  with  it?  Ask  yourself! 
Inquire!  To  combat  this  crime,  what  is  the  state  of 
public  morals?  In  what  condition  is  the  public  con- 
science to  grapple  with  the  great  problems  that  are 
facing  the  country  and  demanding  adjustment? 

The  American  people  are  the  victims  of  a  bad  habit, 
the  habit  of  tippling  with  corruption  in  politics.  Whence 
came  this  gigantic  evil  and  corruption  so  prevalent? 
From  Tammany.  From  the  "training  and  faith'"  of  its 
members.  Whence  came  a  perverted  public  conscience? 
From  the  "live  citizens  of  this  republic,"  whose  "train- 
ing and  faith"  have  been  acquired  at  the  hands  of 
Catholic  teachers,  lay  as  well  as  clerical.  From  a  con- 
science acquired  by  Catholic  training  comes  willing- 
ness to  commit  crimes  against  the  ballot  box,  and  the 
law,  especially  municipal  law.  The  exemption  of 
Tammany  offenders  from  punishment  has  emboldened 
like  crime  throughout  the  country. 

A  Tammany  boss  or  a  ballot  machine  boss  has  come 
to  be  considered  a  "smooth  one,"  and  as  having  perpe- 
trated a  good  joke  when  he  gets  the  best  of  the  people 
by  avoiding  punishment  for  well  known  crimes  against 
election  laws.  • 

Every  Catholic  policeman  who  emerges  from  a 
saloon,  kept  by  a  Catholic,  in  all  probability,  on  a  Sun- 
day morning,  wiping  off  his  chin,  feels  that  he  has  the 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

people  by  the  heels  when  he  thus  tolerates  a  violation 
of  the  municipal  law,  closing  saloons  on  Sundays,  when 
he  thus  commits  moral  perjury. 

Take  the  blue  coat  and  the  silver  star  off  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  communicant  and  place  them  upon 
Protestants  who  are  in  good  standing  in  their  churches. 
Who  would  then  expect  open  saloons  and  the  imbibing 
oi  beer  by  the  custodians  of  the  public  peace  and  the 
-worn  enforcers  of  the  law  on  Sunday  mornings,  or 
conniving  at  or  committing  crime  under  official 
authority?  One  class  would  have  a  Roman  Catholic 
conscience  inside  the  blue  coat  and  the  other  a  Protest- 
ant "inward  mentor." 

The  ease  with  which  indulgence  may  be  obtained 
and  the  facility  with  which  absolution  can  be  secured, 
from  Roman  Catholic  priests,  gives  a  tendency  to  crime 
and  to  the  exercise  of  moral  depravity  the  world  over; 
and  this  fact  should  ostracize  all  professedly  sacred, 
consecrated  people  who  deal  in  indulgences  and  absolu- 
tions at  so  much  per  dozen,  or  singly,  thus  giving  out 
falsely- that  Cod's  permission  for  and  condonement  of 
crime  and  sin  can  be  secured  for  a  money  consideration. 
Out  upon  such  blasphemy! 

The    Roman    Catholic    church    has  made  a  record 

showing  its  position  as  to  republics,  and  just  what  that 

!  is  will  be  Seen  in  the  pages  of  this  book.     It  will 

in  be  shown  that  all  ecclesiastics  in  good  standing, 
from  the  pope  to  the  lowest  of  the  clergy  in  Mexico  con- 
their  powers,  spiritual,  military  and  financial, 
to  maintain  monan  in  ,  centralism  and  imperialism,  and 
republicanism  in  that  country,  and'that  if  any 
of  their  Dumber  favored  a  true  republic  they  were  de- 
nounced, excommunicated  and  executed. 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  21 

In  the  pages  which  treat  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
and  its  disregard  by  all  the  Catholic  powers  of  Europe, 
will  be  seen  how  false  is  the  assumption  of  Bourke 
Cochran  that  the  Catholic  church  has  ever  been  a  foster- 
ing mother  to  this  republic,  or  that  the  Union  is  in  any 
sense  the  offspring  of  Rome,  or  that  Rome  had  desire 
for  its  perpetuation ;  but  otherwise  that  the  pope  officially 
and  joyfully  recognized  the  confederate  states  of  America 
in  1863. 

While  the  battle  to  limit  the  power  of  ecclesiasti- 
cism  in  America  is  on,  Pope  L,eo  XIII.  enters  the  field 
in  the  form  of  an  "encyclical, ' '  received  at  arch-episcopal 
headquarters,  New  York,  in  July,  1894,  from  which  the 
following: 

"The  liberty  of  the  state,  however,  need  not  arouse 
rivalries  and  antagonisms,  for  the  Church  aspires  to  no 
power  and  obeys  no  ambition-  What  it  desires  solely  is 
to  preserve  among  men  the  exercise  of  virtue,  and  by 
this  means  assure  their  eternal  salvation.  And  so  it 
uses  condescension  and  maternal  processes.  More  than 
this,  having  regard  to  the  requirements  of  all  societies, 
it  sometimes  waives  the  exercise  of  its  own  rights,  as  has 
been  shown  abundantly  in  its  conventions  with  different 
states.  Nothing  is  further  from  its  thoughts  than  to 
trespass  upon  the  rights  of  civil  authority,  which  in  re- 
turn should  respect  the  rights  of  the  Church,  and  beware 
of  tisurping  any  part  of  them.  And  now  we  can  con- 
sider what  is  happening  in  our  time.  What  tendency 
do  we  see  by  many  of  the  churches?  Suspected,  dis- 
dained, hated,  accused,  and  what  is  worse,  no  efforts 
are  spared  to  bring  it  under  the  yoke  of  the  civil  authority. 
Its  properties  are  confiscated  and  its  liberties  narrowed; 
its  education  of  the  aspirants  to  the  priesthood  is  ham- 


22  HIS  Ti  'A' } '  < )F  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

pered;  religious  societies  are  dissolved  or  forbidden. 
In  short,  we  realize  a  revival  of  all  the  regalist  methods. 
This  is  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  Church.  It  is  pre- 
paring lamentable  catastrophes  for  society,  for  it  is  the 
open  contradiction  of  the  plans  of  God.  The  State  has 
its  own  rights  and  duties.  The  Church  has  hers.  Be- 
tween them  should  be  bonds  of  strictest  concord.  So 
would  surely  be  suppressed  the  unrest  visible  in  the  re- 
lations of  Church  and  State.  Another  grave  peril  to 
unity  is  the  Masonic  sect,  a  formidable  power  which  has 
long  oppressed  all  nations,  especially  Catholic  nations." 

By  this  manifest,  Americans  will  see  that  the  pope 
still  urges  the  rights  of  the  Church  to  be  superior  to 
those  of  the  State,  and  that  all  attempts  to  bring  the 
Church  "under  the  yoke  of  the  civil  authority"  prepares 
society  for  "lamentable  catastrophes,"  and  moreover 
that  "it  is  an  open  contradiction  of  the  plans  of  God." 

Fortunately,  any  lamentable  catastrophes  which 
may  befall  American  society  for  thus  violating  the  plans 
oi  God  will  not  be  attended  with  the  pains  of  the  in- 
quisition.  No  thanks,  however,  to  Rome.  And  any- 
thing u!  tlie  lamentable  nature  which  may  threaten  in 
the  form  of  secret  military  Catholic  societies  can  well  be 
contemplated  with  complacence  when  it  is  recollected 
that  in  each  and  every  case  where  Rome  has  taken  up 
the  sword  to  maintain  ecclesiasticisms,  she  has  lost 
irretrievably — trom  England  centuries  ago,  to  Mexico 
a  quarter  oi  a  century  since. 

Americans  who    tear    because     Rome  is   securing 

:  in  our  army  and  in  civil  offices  and  is  almost 
monopolizing  the  police  departments  of  our  cities,  may 
know  that  to  Pome  there  is  a  limit;  that  the  reaction 
has  set  in,  that  the  lines  are   being  drawn,  and  that  the 


FROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DTAZ.  23 

issues  now  on-coming  will  remain  in  active  contest  until 
Americanism  alone  will  rule  in  America. 

Rome  never  won  a  battle,  except  with  such  people 
as  the  Mexican  Indians,  and  then  it  was  only  a  tempo- 
rary victory;  for  in  that  nation  there  was  providentially 
raised  up  one  of  the  full-blood  natives,  Juarez,  who 
"downed"  the  ecclesiastics  for  all  time. 

And  the  complaint  which  the  misinformed  pope 
makes  as  to  confiscations,  forbidding  and  dissolving  the 
societies  of  Jesuits,  Nuns  and  Sisters  of  Charity,  and 
suppressing  priest-making  schools  should  not  be  made 
against  Protestant  America,  but  against  Catholic 
Mexico,  where  such  things  are  true. 

The  pope  should  study  the  map  or  have  instruction 
given  him,  else  people  will  refuse  to  believe  him  "in- 
fallible." 

The  profusion  of  the  words,  "rights  of  the  Church, ' ' 
"its  own  right,"  "to  bring  it  under  the  yoke  of  the 
civil  authority,"  show  clearly  that  Leo  XIII.  still  holds 
to  the  dictum  of  Pius  IX. ,  announced  when  he  was  out- 
fitting Maximillian  for  his  usurpation  of  authority  as 
emperor  over  the  republic  of  Mexico.  "Great  are  the 
rights  of  nations,  and  they  must  be  heeded;  but  greater 
and  more  sacred  are  the  rights  of  the  Church." 

As  to  any  "unrest"  which  may  exist  "in  the  rela- 
tions of  church  and  state,"  it  "would  surely  be  sup- 
pressed" if  the  "old  man  on  the  Tyber"  and  his  satel- 
lites and  superstitious  dupes  would  be  content  with 
American  institutions.  All  other  churches  and  the  state 
sustain  very  happy  and  restful  amenities.  Romanists 
monopolize  the  disquiet. 

If  his  holiness  were  to  abandon  his  prejudices, 
prove  himself  to  be   "worthy   and   well   qualified,"  and 


24 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  PO II TICS, 


seek  "light,"  he  might  find  that  the  detested  sect  of 
Free  Masons  are  not  such  oppressors  of  nations  as  he 
falsly  charges  them  to  be. 


CHAPTER  II. 


1492  TO  1521. 

West  India  Islands  Occupied — Greed  of  Adven- 
turers— Natives  Enslaved — Main  Land  Dis- 
covered —  Civilization  —  Battles  —  Cortez  — 
Pious  Instructions — Impious  Expectations — 
Lands — Burns  Ships — Marches  on  Mexico — 
Hospitality  op  Montezuma — Traitorous  Re- 
turn— Battles — Final  Conquest — Facts  as  to 
the  Country. 


T 


HE  West  Indian  Islands,  first  discovered  by  Colum- 
bus, were  quickly  taken  possession  Q.f  by  greedy 
and  conscienceless  Roman  Catholic  discoverers  and 


adventurers.  They  not  only  took  the  lands,  but  to 
satisfy  still  further  the  greed  which  was  their  ruling 
passion,  those  false  representatiyes  of  the  meek,  lowly, 
and  inoffensive  Christ,  made  slaves  of  the  natives,  and 
compelled  them  to  work  and  labor  for  them  upon  their 
own  former  homesteads,  without  any  compensation. 

The  subjugation  of  the  natiyes  was  accomplished 
only  by  the  most  cruel  and  barbarous  processes.  While! 
making  the  conquest  of  Cuba  one  Panfilo  de  Narvaez,J 
who  commanded  a  force  which  was  scouring  the  island, 
encountered  a  chief  named  Hatuey.  This  chief  had  fled 
from  St.  Domingo  to  escape  the  oppression  of  the  Span- 
iards, and  he  now  made  a  desperate  resistance.  For  so 
doing  he  was  condemned  to  be  burned  alive.      Then  it 


26  HIS  TORY  L  V  MEXICAN  POLITICS,  ' 

was  that  he  made  a  wonderful  reply  more  eloquent  than 
volumes  of  invective.  Being  bound  to  the  stake,  with 
combustibles  around  him,  and  with  the  naming  torch 
in  the  hand  of  the  willing  executioner,  a  Roman  Catho- 
lic priest — cross  in  hand — with  oily  words  urged  him  to 
embrace  Christianity  that  his  soul  might  secure  admis- 
sion to  heaven.  He  inquired  whether  the  white  men 
would  be  found  there?  On  being  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  he  exclaimed,  "then  I  will  not  become  a 
Christian,  for  I  would  not  go  again  to  a  place  where  I 
must  find  men  so  cruel." 

The  fertility  of  the  soil  and  the  inexpensiveness  of 
labor  insured  wealth,  and  multitudes  of  adventurers 
flocked  to  the  New  World.  vSoon  the  lands  were  occu- 
pied to  their  utmost  limits  ami  capacity.  Then  the 
spirit  nf  adventure,  discovery  and  greed  prompted  to 
new  voyages  and  new  conquests;  and  fourteen  years  after 
t'ne  fir^t  landing  was  made  upon  the  islands,  the  main 
land  of  the  continent  was  discovered:  and  in  1506,  the 
:i  coast  of  Yucatan  first  felt  the  accursed  footsteps 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  slave-maker  and  despoiler. 

The  month  of  March,  15  17,  saw  Francisco  Fernan- 

de  Cordova  leave  Cuba  with  a  fleet  of  three  small 

els,  bound  on  an  exploring  expedition  along  the  coast 

n.     <  »n  approaching  the  shore,  the  Spaniards 

■  surprised  to  find,  instead  of  naked  savages  as  they 

had<  a  people  decently  clad  in  cotton  garments. 

Od    Landing,  their   wonder   was   increased   at  beholding 

■    edifices  built  of  stone.      The  natives  were 

much  more  bold  and  warlike    than  those  of   the  islands, 

Spaniards  were  everywhere  received  with  the 

•  mined  opposition.    At  one  place  fifty-seven  of 

•  Spaniard-,  were  killed,  and  Cordova  himself  received 


FRO.V  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  27 

a  wound  of  which  he  died  soon  after  his  return  to  Cuba. 

Notwithstanding  the  disastrous  result  of  that  expe- 
dition, another  was  planned  the  following  year;  and 
under  the  direction  of  Juan  de  Grijalva  a  portion  of  the 
southern  coast  of  Mexico  was  explored,  and  a  large 
amount  "of  treasure  obtained  by  trafhcing  with  the 
natives.  Velasquez,  Governor  of  Cuba,  under  whose 
auspices  the  voyage  of  Grijalva  had  been  made,  enriched 
by  the  result  and  elated  with  success  far  beyond  his  ex- 
pectations, now  determined  to  undertake  the  conquest 
of  the  wealthy  countries  that  had  been  discovered,  and 
hastily  fitted  out  an  armament  for  the  purpose.  Not  be- 
ing able  to  lead  the  expedition  in  person,  he  gave  the 
command  to  Fernando  Cortez,  who  sailed  with  eleven 
vessels,  having  on  board  a  force  of  508  infantry,  16 
cavalry  and  their  horses,  109  sailors,  and  200  native 
Cubans;  they  had  also  ten  cannons  and  four  falconettes. 

The  command  of  this  expedition  was  not  given  to 
Cortez  without  considerable  hesitation,  for  want  of  con- 
fidence, as  he  had  not  the  best  moral  or  financial  repu- 
tation. Velasquez  and  the  clergy  who  had  directed  the 
policies  of  the  expeditious  gave  the  commander  instruc- 
tions which  contrasted  notably  with  the  conduct  which 
he  observed.  The  orders  were,  that  he  should  comport 
himself  as  a  Christian  warrior,  that  he  should  prohibit 
heresy  among  his  followers,  and  that  in  no  case  should 
he  commit  any  hostile  act  against  the  natives  of  the 
country;  and  that  wherever  he  directed  his  movements, 
it  was  his  only  duty  to  make  known  the  infinite  good- 
ness and  glory  of  God  and  of  his  Catholic  majesty,  the 
the  king. 

In  spite  of  the  apparent  manifestation  of  pity  and 
piety,  neither  the  governor,  Velasquez,  nor  the  ecclesi- 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

3  were  persuaded  that  such  instructions  would  be 
very  punctually  obeyed,  and  they  expected  that  they 
would  be  so  interpreted  that  a  good  financial  end  would 
result  from  the  expedition.  They  were  given  merely 
for  their  effect  upon  the  outside  world,  and  with  a  hope 
to  cover  Velasquez  from  any  possible  censure  from  his 
sovereign,  having  a  constant  hope  that  they  would  re- 
ceive their  share  of  the  booty. 

In  March,  15 19,  Cortez  landed  in  Tabasco,  a  south- 
ern province  of  Mexico,  where  he  had  several  encount- 
ers with  the  natives,  whom  he  routed  with  great 
slaughter.  Proceeding  thence  westward  and  along  the 
coast,  he  landed  at  the  place  where  Vera  Cruz  is  now 
situated.  Here  he  was  hospitably  received  by  the 
natives,  and  two  officers  of  a  monarch,  who  was  called 
Montezuma,  came  to  inquire  what  his  intentions  were 
in  his  visit,  and  to  offer  him  assistance  to  enable  him  to 
continue  his  journey.  Cortez  respectfully  assured  them 
that  be  came  with  the  most  friendly  sentiments,  but  that 
he  was  intrusted  with  affairs  of  such  moment  by  the 
kin^',  his  soverign,  that  he  could  impart  them  to  no 
one  hut  to  the  Emperor  Montezuma  himself,  and  there- 
ted  them  to  conduct  him  into  the  presence  of 
their  master. 

The  officers,  knowing  that  the  requestwould  bedis- 
ible  t"  Montezuma,  endeavored  to  dissaude  Cortez 
from  his  intentions,  at  the  same  time  making  him  valu- 
able presents,  which  only  increased  his  avidity.  Mes- 
dispatched  to  the  monarch,  giving  him  an 
thing  that  had  occurred  since  the  arrival 
of  the  Spaniards.  Presents  of  great  value,  consistingof 
u   ornaments,  finely  woven  cotton   garments,  and 

'dully   wrought     leather    robes,   were    returned    by 


FROM CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  29 

him;  and  requests  were  made,  and  finally  commands 
given,  that  the  Spaniards  should  leave  the  country — but 
all  to  no  purpose. 

Cortez,  after  destroying  his  vessels,  that  his  soldiers 
should  be  left  without  any  resources  but  their  valor, 
commenced  to  march  towards  the  Mexican  capital.  On 
his  way  thither,  several  nations,  tributary  to  Monte- 
zuma, but  who  were  at  the  point  of  revolt,  threw  off 
their  allegiance  and  joined  the  Spaniards.  Montezuma 
himself,  alarmed  and  irresolute,  continued  to  send  mes- 
sengers to  Cortez;  and  as  his  hopes  or  his  fears  alter- 
nately prevailed,  on  one  day  gave  him  permission  to  ad- 
vance; and  on  the  next  command  him  to  depart. 

As  the  vast  valley  of  Mexico  opened  to  the  view  of 
the  Spaniards,  they  beheld  numerous  villages  and  culti- 
vated fields  extending  to  the  limit  of  their  vision;  and 
in  the  middle  of  the  plain,  partly  encompassing  a  large 
lake  and  partly  built  on  islands  within  it,  stood  the  City 
of  Mexico,  adorned  with  its  numerous  temples  and  tur- 
rets; the  whole  presenting  to  the  eyes  of  the  Spaniards 
a  view  so  novel  and  wonderful  that  they  could  hardly 
convince  themselves  that  it  was  real,  and  not  a  mirage 
or  a  dream. 

Montezuma  received  the  Spaniards  with  great  pomp 
and  display,  admitted  them  within  the  city,  assigned 
them  a  spacious  and  elegant  edifice  for  their  accommo- 
dation, supplied  all  their  wants,  and  bestowed  valuable 
presents  among  them  indiscriminately.  Cortez,  never- 
theless, soon  began  to  feel  solicitude  for  his  situation 
and  safety.  He  was  in  the  middle  of  a  vast  empire, 
shut  up  in  the  center  of  a  large  city,  and  surrounded 
by  multitudes  sufficient  to  overwhelm  him  on  the  least 
intimation  of  the  will  of  their  sovereign. 


3o  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

In  this  emergency,  the  wily  Cortez  with  extraordi- 
nary daring  and  depravity  formed  and  executed  the 
plan  of  seizing  the  person  of  the  Mexican  monarch,  and 
detained  him  as  a  hostage  for  the  good  conduct  of  the 
people.  He  next  induced  him,  overawed  and  broken  in 
spirit,  to  acknowledge  himself  a  vassal  of  the  Spanish 
crown,  and  to  subject  his  dominions  to  the  payment  of 
tribute. 

Velasquez,  the  governor  of  Cuba,  became  jealous 
of  Cortez  and  sent  a  hostile  force  to  capture  the  adven- 
turer. This  caused  Cortez  to  absent  himself  from  the 
city  to  meet  the  new  danger  which  threatened  him. 

In  his  absence  the  Mexicans,  incited  by  the  cruel- 
ties  of  the  Spaniards  who  had  been  left  to  guard  the 
capita]  and  the  Mexican  king,  flew  to  arms.  Cortez, 
with  rare  good  fortune  having  subdued  his  enemies  and 
incorporated  most  of  them  with  his  own  forces,  return- 
ing, entered  the  capital  without  molestation. 

Reiving  too  much  on  his  increased  strength,  he 
soon  laid  aside  the  mask  of  moderation  which  had 
hitherto  concealed  his  designs,  and  treated  the  Mexicans 
Like  conquered  subjects.  They,  finally  convinced  that 
they  had  nothing  to  hope  except  in  the  utter  extermina- 
tion of  thL-  invaders,  resumed  their  attacks  upon  the 
Spaniards  with  renewed  fury. 

In  a  sally  which  Cortez  made,  twelve  of  his  soldiers 
killed,  which  showed  the  Mexicans  that  their  ene- 
mies wen-  not  invincible.  Cortez,  now  fully  sensible 
of  his  danger,  tried  what  effect  the  interposition  of 
Montezuma  would  have  upon  his  irritated  subjects.  At 
I  their  kin-,  whom  they  almost  worshiped  as  a 
god,  the  weapons  of  the  Mexicans  dropped  from  their 
hand,,  and  ev<  i\  head  was  bowed  with  reverence.    But 


FROM  COR'lEZ  TO  DIAZ.  31 

when,  in  obedience  to  Cortez,  the  unhappy  monarch 
attempted  to  mitigate  their  rage  and  to  persuade  them 
to  lay  down  their  arms,  murmurs,  threats  and  reproaches 
ran  through  their  ranks.  Their  rage  broke  forth  with 
uncontrollable  fury,  and,  regardless  of  their  monarch, 
they  again  poured  in  upon  the  Spaniard's  flights  of 
arrows  and  volleys  of  stones.  Two  arrows  wounded 
Montezuma  before  he  could  be  removed,  and  a  blow 
from  a  stone  brought  him  down. 

The  Mexicans,  on  seeing  their  king  fall  by  their 
own  hands,  were  struck  with  remorse  and  fled  in  horror. 
Montezuma  himself,  scorning  to  survive  this  last 
humiliation,  rejected  with  disdain  all  attentions  of  the 
Spaniards,  refused  to  take  nourishment,  and  soon  termi- 
nated his  unhappy  life. 

Cortez,  now  despairing  of  terms  with  the  Mexicans, 
after  several  desperate  encounters  with  them,  began  a 
retreat  from  the  capital;  but  innumerable  hosts  hemmed 
him  in  on  every  side,  and  his  march  was  almost  a  con- 
tinual battle. 

On  the  sixth, day  of  the  retreat,  the  almost  ex- 
hausted Spaniards,  now  reduced  in  numbers,  encount- 
ered at  Otumba  on  an  extended  plain,  the  whole  Mexican 
force,  which  extended  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
There  was  no  hope  of  succor  or  escape,  and  it  was  left 
for  them  to  conquer  or  die.  Cortez  immediately  led  his 
men  to  the  charge.  The  Mexicans  received  them  with 
fortitude,  yet  their  best  battalions  gave  way  before 
Spanish  discipline  and  arms.  The  very  multitude  of  their 
enemies,  however,  pressing  upon  them  from  every  side, 
seemed  sufficient  to  overwhelm  the  Spaniards. 

They,  seeing  no  end  of  their  toil  nor  any  hope  of 
victory,  were  on  the  point  of  yielding  to  despair. 


32  HISTORY  OF  M EX /CAX'POLITICS, 

At  this  moment  Cortez,  seeing  the  great  Mexican 
standard  advancing  and  recollecting  that  on  its  fate 
depended  the  event  of  every  battle,  assembled  a  few  of 
his  bravest  officers,  and  at  their  head  cut  his  way- 
through  the  opposing  ranks,  struck  down  the  Mexican 
general,  and  secured  the  standard.  The  moment  their 
general  fell  and  the  standard  disappeared,  the  panic- 
struck  Mexicans  threw  away  their  arms  and  fled  to  the 
mountains,  making  no  further  opposition  to  the  retreat 
of  the  Spaniards. 

Notwithstanding  the  reverses  which  he  had  ex- 
perienced, Cortez  still  looked  forward  with  confidence 
to  the  conquest  of  the  whole  Mexican  empire.  After 
receiving  supplies  and  reinforcements,  he,  in  the  mouth 

vember,  1520,  again  departed  for  the  interior  with 
a  force  of  five  hundred  Spaniards  and  many  thousands 
of  friendly  Indians. 

Alter  various  successes  and  reverses  and  a  siege  of 
the  capital  which  lasted  seventy-five  days — the  new 
sovereign,  Guatemozin,  having  been  captured — in 
August,  15- 1,  the  city  yielded;  the  fate  of  the  Aztec 
empire  was  decided  and  Mexico  became  a  possession  of 
Spain. 

I  me  can  but  regret  that  the  Aztecs  had  not  annihi- 
lated the  Roman  Catholic  invaders;  had  forbidden  their 
three  centuries  of  crime  and  outrage:  had  maintained 
their  civilization,  a  civilization  which  was  superior  to 
thatof  Spain,  and  by  which  Europe  might  have  been 
instiu.  ted;  and  thus  been  left  to  work  out  their  destiny 

lid  with  the  histories  and  destinies  of  aboriginal 
peoples,  until  the  pure  Light  of  inspiration  and  Christi- 
anity, Bhining  forth  from  Protestant  evangelization, 
COUld    have    shown    them   the   way  to  Letter  things  of  a 


FROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  33 

religious  order,  and  could  have  blended  their  native  art 
and  science — lost  through  Catholic  superstition  and 
greed — with  that  of  Europe,  to  the  betterment  of  both 
civilizations. 

They  were  entitled  to  continue  as  a  power,  a  nation, 
a  people,  among  nations,  powers  and  peoples;  and  their 
criminal  overthrow  and  debasement  is  one  of  the  greatest 
outrages  written  in  the  world's  history,  and  remains 
unjustified  and  unjustifiable. 

The  original  Aztec  empire  comprised  but  a  small 
part  of  the  territory  embraced  in  modern  Mexico.  But 
the  conquest  of  the  chief  military  nation  of  the  country 
gave  the  Spaniards  possession  from  the  gulf  of  Mexico 
to  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  as  far  to  the  north  and  south 
of  the  valley  as  their  explorers  and  colonists  wished  to 
penetrate  and  occupy. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  facts  relating  to  the 
new  possessions  of  the  conquering  Spaniards  was  the 
climate.  Although  the  difference  of  latitude  alone 
would  naturally  have  the  effect  of  producing  consider- 
able changes  in  the  temperature  of  the  more  distant 
parts,  yet  it  is  not  to  this  circumstance  so  much  as  the 
peculiarity  of  its  geological  structure  that  Mexico  owes 
that  singular  variety  of  climate  by  which  it  is  dis- 
tinguished from  every  other  country  in  the  world. 

The  Andes  mountains,  which  are  a  single  chain  in 
South  America  and  the  isthmus  of  Panama,  divide  into 
two  chains  on  entering  the  northern  continent  which 
diverge  to  the  east  and  west;  but,  still  preserving  their 
direction  to  the  north,  leave  in  the  center  an  immense 
platform  or  table-land,  intersected  by  the  higher  points 
or  ridges  of  the  great  mountain  chain  by  which  it  is 
supported,  but  raised  in  the  more  central  parts  to  the 


34  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

heighth  of  7,000  to  8,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

In  a  valley  of   this   table-land,  at   an    elevation  of 

■  feet,  is  situated  the  City  of  Mexico.  Upon  the 
whole  of  this  table-land  the  effect  of  geographical  posi- 
tion is  neutralized  by  the  extreme  rarefaction  of  the  air, 
while  upon  the  eastern  and  western  declivities  it  re- 
sumes its  natural  influences  as  it  approaches  the  level 
of  the  sea. 

On  the  ascent  from  Vera  Cruz,  the  changing  cli- 
mates rapidly  succeed  each  other,  and  the  traveler  in  a 
few  hours  passes  in  review  the  whole  scale  of  vegeta- 
tion. The  plants  of  the  tropics  are  exchanged  for  the 
evergreen  oak,  and  the  deadly  atmosphere  of  Vera  Cruz 
for  the  sweet,  mild  air  of  Jalapa.  A  little  further  the 
oak  gives  place  to  the  fir,  the  air  becomes  more  pierc- 
ing, the  sun,  though  it  scorches,  has  no  longer  the 
deleterious  effect  upon  the  human  frame,  and  nature 
limes  a  new  and  peculiar  aspect. 

With  a  cloudless  sky  and  a  brilliantly  pure  atmos- 
phere, there  is  a  great  want  of  moisture  and  little  luxuri- 
anee  of  vegetation.  Vast  plains  follow  each  other  in 
apparently  endless  succession,  each  separated  from  the 
•  by  a  little  ridge  of  hills  which  appear  to  have 
formed  at  some  previous  period  the  basin  of  an  extended 
chain  of   lake^.      Such,  with    some  slight  variations,  is 

eneral  character  of  the  table  lands  of  the  interior. 

Wherever  there    is   water  there    is   fertility,  but  the 

f<-w  and  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the 

oi  the  United   States,  and  in  the   interval   the  sun 

instead  of  enriching  the  soil.    High  and  barren 

plains  Ol  sand,  from    which   isolated  mountains  rise  to 

as  of  perpetual  snow,  occupy  a  large  part  of  the 

interioi  of  Northern  Mexico.     Nor  does  nature  recover 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  35 

her  wonted  vigor  until  the  streams  which  filter  from  the 
mountains  are  sufficiently  formed  to  dispense  moisture 
on  their  passage  to  the  ocean. 

Almost  all  the  fruits  and  grains  of  Europe  succeed 
well  on  the  table-lands,  while  bordering  on  the  Pacific 
ocean  and  the  gulf  of  Mexico  tropical  fruits  are  found 
in  abundance.  The  whole  eastern  coast,  extending 
back  to  that  point  in  the  slope  of  the  mountains  at  which 
tropical  'fruits  cease  to  thrive,  is  susceptible  of  the 
highest  cultivation. 


CHAPTER  III. 


152  I  TO  1 80S. 

Mix  ico  Ruled  by  Viceroys — Polices  —  Laws  — 
Troops  —  Catholic  Religion  Imposed  —  In- 
humanity—  Las  Cases  Interferes — Official 
Corruption  —  Castes — Poverty — Laws  of  the 
I  xdies — Inquisition. 

THE  conquest  of  Mexico  by  the  Spaniards  vested  the 
ownership  and  sovereignty  of  the  country  in  the 
crown  of  Spain.  The  government  of  Spain  at 
the  time  was  an  absolute  monarchy,  and  the  monarchs 
<if  the  mother  country  ruled  their  American  possessions 
by  Viceroys,  the  policies  and  laws  of  whose  administra- 
tions were  dictated  from  Spain  and  enforced  by  Spanish 
soldiers.  This  character  of  government  was  maintained 
until  Mexico  became  independent  in  1821. 

The  Catholic  religion,  introduced  into  the  country 
by  the  Spaniards,  was  the  only  religion  that  was  toler- 
ated  in  Mexico  during  the  whole  period  of  its  colonial 
existence,  and  up  to  [873,  when  the  wise  and  benefi- 
1  lent  reforms  inaugurated  by  Benito  Juarez, — the  only 
full  blood  Indian  who  ever  occupied  the  chair  of  state 
in  Mexico, — culminated  in  an  amendment  to  the  federal 
constitution,  since  which  all  religions  are  tolerated  and 
ted. 
A  few  years  after  the  conquest,  six  millions  of  the 
nati  induced  by  fraud  and   force  to  embrace  the 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  37 

Roman  Catholic  religion.  But,  although  they  changed 
their  profession,  their  faith  remained  essentially  the 
same,  inasmuch  as  they  were  not  educated,  and  per- 
formed their  religious  ceremonies  by  rote  and  with  the 
use  of  an  unintelligible  foreign  tongue.  Therefore  they 
knew  very  little  of  religion  but  its  external  forms;  audit 
was  more  than  suspected  that  multitudes  of  the  pro- 
fessed converts  retained  faith  in  their  ancient  idols. 

Many  of  the  more  intelligent  contrasted,  with  a 
favorable  verdict  to  their  system,  the  cruelties  inflicted 
in  the  "halls  of  torment"  of  the  inquisition  upon  the 
victims  therein  disciplined,  with  the  sacrifice  of  victims 
of  war,  offered  in  their  own  religious  rites,  wherein  the 
most  distinguished  priests  of  their  respective  creeds  per- 
formed the  rites  and  inflicted  the  cruelties.  They  also 
held  that  the  consuming  of  the  bodies  of  their  victims, 
which  was  part  of  their  religion,  was  much  more  con- 
sistent than  was  the  eating  of  the  body  of  the  Christians' 
God,  as  performed  in  the  Holy  Eucharist. 

The  establishment  of  a  colonial  government  wras 
followed  by  the  bondage  of  the  natives,  who  were  re- 
duced to  the  most  cruel  and  humiliating  form  of  slavery. 

The  tyranny,  inhumanity  and  greed  of  the  con- 
qerers  and  adventuerers  who  occupied  the  agricultural 
lauds  and  operated  the  mines,  led  to  the  perpetration  of 
such  excesses,  and  outrages  upon  the  Indians  that  it 
became  a  well  known  fact,  and  wTas  publicly  charged, 
that  fifteen  million  of  them  were  destro3red  in  the  first 
third  of  the  century  of  the  occupation  of  the  country. 

Columbus  having  discovered  the  New  World,  and 
brought  the  Indians  under  the  dominion  of  the  Monarch 
of  Spain,  laid  a  tax  upon  the  natives  on  his  second  voyage 
to  the  new  land.  This  tax  was  to  be  paid  quarterly  and  was 


38  HISTOR  J '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

excessively  exorbitant.  Many  were  unable  to  pay  and 
therefore  they  offered  time  sen-ice,  or  labor,  as  a  substi- 
tute for  gold  and  other  products  of  the  country.  This 
was  accepted  and  thus  a  beginning  was  made  of  the 
system  of  "repartimientos"  under  which  the  natives 
finally  were  made  the  servants  and  slaves  of  the  Span- 
iards. 

In  1528  a  species  of  government,  or  court,  called 
the  audiencia,  with  Nuno  de  Guzman  as  president,  was 

'.ished  in  Mexico,  and  under  his  reign  great  cruel- 
tics  were  perpetrated.  As  usual,  greed  for  gold  was  his 
ruling  passion;  so  the  chief  inhabitants  were  invited  to 
the  City  of  Mexico  with  assurances  of  peace  and  protec- 
tion, but  when  within  the  power  of  the  president  the 
mask  of  kindness  was  thrown  off  and  they  were  sub- 
jected to  the  most  cruel  treatment  to  compel  them  to 
produce  and  surrender  the  coveted  gold.  The  king  of 
one  of  the  provinces  was  taken  to  the  house  of  the 
president  and  then  his  feet  were  placed  in  the  fire  to 
compel  him  to  give  up  his  treasures. 

All  of  the  natives  were  enslaved  and  obliged  to 
peform  excessively  laborious  tasks.  At  times  they  be- 
came  insubordinate  when  they  were  cruelly  whipped 
with  the  las];.      When  their  discontent  appeared  to  be 

ral  they  were  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  insubordi- 
nation, and  were  subjugated  with  arms.  Entire  popu- 
lations were  sold  as  slaves  to  countries  distant  from 
th<-ir  pla<  es  of  nativity. 

In  K|i  while  an  exploring  party  of  Spaniards  were 

traveling  through  Panama  they  were  surprised  to  find 

ntire  abandonment  of  a  country  where  there  was 

of  pi       ous  occupation;  and  were  informed,  on 

inquiry,  that  other  invaders  had   murdered  or  sold  into 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  39 

slavery  the  entire  population   which   once  had  happy 
homes  therein. 

In  Honduras  the  inhabitants  had  been  robbed  of 
their  properties,  and  then  sold  as  slaves  to  other  parts 
of  the  country;  and  in  another  province  where  there 
had  been  cities  with  from  three  thousand  to  fifteen 
thousand  people,  there  remained  in  1547  not  more  than 
two  hundred  persons.  In  a  city  that  at  one  time  had 
nine  hundred  houses,  there  was  found  only  one  single 
inhabitant,  all  the  rest  having  been  murdered  or  sold  as 
slaves,  and  his  soliloquy  might  well  have  been  "thus 
do  Roman  Catholics  teach  Christ  and  evangelize  In- 
dians." 

Cruel  was  the  treatment  of  the  natives  in  all  the 
provinces  dominated  by  the  Spaniards,  but  in  no  part 
was  the  oppression  so  extreme  as  in  Guatemala,  where, 
under  the  dominion  of  Pedro  Alvarado,  there  was  re- 
pugnant licentiousness  utterly  indescribable.  In  their 
campaigns,  against  outlying  tribes,  when  their  allies 
needed  rations,  they  were  fed  upon  human  bodies  as 
a  meat  food,  their  captives  being  slaughtered  for  that 
use  as  so  many  cattle.  When  by  reason  of  a  super- 
abundant supply  they  could  select,  then  the  hands  and 
feet  of  slaughtered  children  formed  an  appetizing  dish. 

No  respect  was  shown  to  family  relations,  and  the 
natives  were  treated  as  brutes.  Houses  were  entered 
and  desolated;  wives  were  separated  from  their  hus- 
bands, and  children  from  their  parents;  and  all  were 
distributed  among  the  soldiers  and  mariners,  as  slaves, 
and  compelled  to  work  in  the  mines  of  gold  and  silver, 
where  they  perished  \>y  thousands. 

Very  little  distinction  was  made  between  the  allies 
who  assisted  the  Spaniards,  and  the  other  natives  who 


4o  HISTOR I '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

were  conquered  by  them.  The  children  of  their  Tlas- 
ealan  allies  were  also  made  slaves  until,  in  1547,  there 
remained  scarcely  one  hundred  living  representatives  of 
that  brave  and  warlike  nation,  which  sent  its  hundred 

sand  men  along  with  Cortez  to  conquer  the  Aztecs. 

This  terrible  treatment  caused  attempts  at  resist- 
ance, when  they  were  reduced  to  greater  degradation. 
Xo  one  has  language  with  which  to  describe  the  horrors 
that  fell  upon  these  unfortunate  creatures.  The  murders 
on  a  grand  scale,  the  gallows,  the  fire,  the  torments,  the 
mutilations  and  branding  with  red-hot  irons  which  fol- 

l  the  suppression  of  any  attempt  to  revolt;  and  in 
the  meantime   the  hunger,  the  fatigue,  the  blows,  the 

trations  and  faintings  under  oppressively  burden- 
some  loads  which  marked  their  condition  while  in  a 
state  of  submission;  all  this  destroyed  the  people  with 
terrible  rapidity. 

The  knowledge  of  these  cruelties  prompted  Bartho- 
ieinew  de  Las  Cases,  bishop  of  Chiapas,  in  Mexico,  to 

a  his  office  and  to  make  common  cause  against  the 
trators;  and  he  accused  them  before  the  whole 
Id. 

The  court  of  Madrid,  "his  most  Catholic  majesty," 

awak         1   I      the  representations  of  Las  Cases  and  by 

the    in  lignation    of    the    civilized    world — then   being 

lit  under  the  benign  influence  of  Protestantism — 

me  sensible  .<t  last  that  the  tyranny  and  cruelties 

h  he  had  so  far  permitted  were  repugnant  to  true 
ligion,  to  humanity,  and  also  to  policy;  and  he  took 
Steps  to  bl  ■  .'.  Up-  chains  of  the  Mexicans. 

ain  laws  were  enacted  by  which  their  condition 

■    I;  but  the  enforcement  of  them  was 

(Those  financial  interests  led  them  to  give 


PZOM  C0R7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  41 

the  edicts  only  partial  effect.  The  tenor  of  those  laws 
was,  that  the  natives  should  have  their  liberty  upon  the 
condition  that  they  should  not  leave  the  territory  where 
they  were  settled;  thus,  their  lands  being  retained  by 
the  Spaniards,  they  were  still  obliged  to  labor  for  their 
oppressors,  under  local  laws  and  regulations. 

This  system  was  gradually  abolished  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth  century,  owing  to  the  in- 
creased abundance  of  negro  slave  labor,  introduced  on 
recommendation  of  Las  Cases,  yet  the  Indians  were  still 
deprived  by  the  Spanish  laws  of  all  the  valuable  privil- 
eges of  citizenship,  were  treated  as  minors  under  the 
tutelage  of  their  superiors,  could  make  no  contracts  be- 
yond the  value  of  ten  pounds,  were  forbidden  to  marry 
with  the  whites,  were  prohibited  the  use  of  firearms, 
and  were  ruled  by  petty  magistrates  appointed  by  the 
government,  which  seemed  to  aim  at  keeping  the 
natives  in  a  state  of  poverty  and  barbarism. 

Degenerated  from  the  rank  which  the}-  held  in  the 
days  of  Montezuma,  banished  into  the  most  barren  dis- 
tricts, where  their  indolence  gained  for  them  only  a  pre- 
carious subsistance;  or,  as  beggars,  swarming  the  streets 
of  the  cities,  basking  in  the  sun  during  the  day  and  pass- 
ing the  night  in  the  open  air,  they  afforded,  during  the 
long  period  of  the  Spanish  rule,  a  sad  and  striking  ex- 
ample of  that  general  degradation  which  the  govern- 
ment of  Spain  brought  upon  the  natives  in  all  the 
Spanish-American  colonies. 

Nor  was  the  colonial  government  established  over 
the  country  at  all  calculated  to  promote  the  interests  of 
the  native  Spanish  population.  For  nearl}-  three  centu- 
ries, down  to  the  year  1S21,  Mexico  was  governed  by 
viceroys  appointed  by  the  court  of  Spain,  all  of  whom, 


42 


HIS! OR  V  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 


with  one  exception,  were  European  Spaniards.  Every 
situation  in  the  gift  of  the  crown  was  bestowed  upon  an 
European,  nor  is  there  an  instance  for  many  years  before 
the  revolution,  either  in  the  Church,  the  army,  or  the 
law,  in  which  the  door  of  preferment  was  opened  to  a 
Spaniard,  Mexican  born. 

Through  this  policy  a  privileged  caste  arose,  dis- 
tinct from  the  Mexican  Spaniards  in  feelings,  habits 
and  interests,  the  paid  agents  of  a  government  wdiose 
only  aim  was  to  enrich  itself  without  any  regard  to  the 
abuses  perpetrated  under  its  authority.  Before  the 
revolution   the  population  of  Mexico  was  divided  into 

•l  distinct  castes:  I.  The  old  Spaniards  born  in 
Spain  and  called  Gachupines;  2.  The  Creoles  or 
whites  of  pure  European  parentage,  born  in  America 
and  regarded  by  the  Spaniards  as  natives;  3.  The 
Indians  or  indigenous  copper-colored  race;  4.  The 
Mestizos  or  mixed  breeds  of  whites  and  Indians;  5.  The 
mulattoes  or  descendants  of  whites  and  negroes;  6.  The 
Zambos  or  Chinos,  the  descendants  of  negroes  and  In- 
dians;  and  7.  The  African  negroes,  either  free  or 
slave.  The  Indians,  comprising  about  two-fifths  of  the 
whole  population,  consisted  of  various  tribes  resembling 
each  other  in  color,  but  differing  greatly  in  language, 
customs  and  dress.  Over  twenty  different  Indian  lan- 
guages are  known  to  be  spoken  in  the  Mexican  terri- 
tory. Next  to  the  pure  Indians,  the  Mestizos  are  the 
most  numerous  caste,  and  indeed  few  of  the  middling 
from  a  taint  of  Indian  blood. 

Prom  the  fust  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  revolu- 
tion, th<-  distinctions  of  caste  were  all  swallowed  up  in 
the  greal  \  ital  distinctions  of  Americans  and  Europeans. 

Many  ot  the  most  distinguished  characters  of  the  revolu- 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  43 

tion  belonged  to  the  mixed  races;  and  under  the  system 
of  government  first  established  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
all  permanent  residents,  without  distinction  of  color, 
were  entitled  to  the  rights  of  citizenship.  General 
Guerrero,  who  in  1824  was  a  member  of  the  executive 
board  and  in  1S29  became  president,  had  African  blood 
in  his  veins. 

With  a  nominal  salary  of  about  sixty  thousand  dol- 
lars, the  viceroy  of  Mexico  kept  up  all  the  pageantry  of 
a  court  during  several  3Tears,  and  then  returned  to  his 
native  country  with  a  fortune  of  one  or  two  millions  of 
dollars,  which  it  was  notorious  he  had  derived  from  a 
system  of  legalized  plunder. 

The  sale  of  titles  and  distinctions  usually  obtained 
from  the  king  at  the  recommendation  of  the  viceroy,  was 
a  source  of  great  profit  to  both.  But  one  still  greater 
was  that  of  granting  licenses  for  the  introduction  of  any 
article  of  foreign  produce,  for  which  immense  sums  were 
paid  by  the  great  commercial  houses  of  Mexico  and 
Vera  Cruz.  So  lucrative  were  the  profits  accruing  from 
the  various  species  of  plundering  carried  on  under  the 
forms  of  law,  that  government  situations,  even  without 
a  salary,  were  in  great  request,  and  were  found  to  be  a 
sure  road  to  affluence. 

The  complaints  of  the  Creoles  and  their  attempts  to 
bring  notorious  offenders  to  justice  were  equally  fruit- 
less. The  various  changes  also  which  from  time  to 
time  the  court  of  Spain  introduced,  with  the  avowed 
object  of  improving  the  condition  of  the  people,  were 
unproductive  of  any  material  results. 

The  spirit  of  clanship  prevailed  over  justice  and 
law,  and  so  marked  was  the  distinction  kept  up  between 
the  European  and  the  Mexican  Spaniards,  that  the  son 


44  ~~HISTOR  > '  t  >F  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

who  had  the  misfortune  to  be  born  of  a  Creole  mother 
was  considered,  even  in  the  house  of  his  own  father, 
interior  to  the  European  book-keeper  or  clerk.  Of  all 
the  aristocratical  distinctions  in  Mexico,  those  of  country 
and  color  were  the  greatest.  The  word  Creole  was  used 
as  a  term  of  reproach,  and  was  thought  to  express  all 
the  contempt  that  language  could  convey. 

To  render  these  distinctions  more  lasting,  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  were  kept  in  ignorance;  and  they 
were  taught  to  believe  that  they  were  fortunate  in  be- 
longing to  a  monarchy  superior  in  power  and  dignity 
to  any  other  in  the  world.  A  printing  press  was  con- 
ceded to  Mexico  as  a  special  privilege,  while  the  same 
boon  was  denied  to  some  other  Spanish  colonies. 
Liberty  to  found  a  school  of  any  kind  was  almost  in- 
variably refused,  and  the  municipality  of  Buenos  Ayres 
was  told,  in  answer  to  a  petition  for  the  establishment 
of  a  school,  in  which  nothing  but  mathematics  was  to 
be  taught,  that  "learning  did  not  become  colonies." 

The  most  serious  cause  of  disquiet  to  the  Mexican 
Creole  was  the  commercial  restrictions  imposed  upon 
them  by  the  Spanish  government.  From  the  first 
Spain  reserved  to  herself  the  exclusive  right  of  supply- 
ing the  wants  of  her  colonies.  No  foreigner  was  per- 
mitted t<>  trade  with  them  nor  foreign  vessel  to  enter 
their  ports,  nor  could  a  Mexican  own  a  ship.  The 
colonies  were  forbidden  to  manufacture  any  article  that 
the  mother-country  could  furnish;  and  they  were  corn- 
el to  receive  from  Spain  many  necessaries  with 
which  the  fertility  of  their  own  soil  wouldhave  supplied 
them.  The  cultivation  of  the  vine  and  the  olive  was 
prohibited,  and  that  of  many  kinds  of  colonial  produce 
tolerated  onlj   unHer  certain  limitations  and  in  such 


FROM  C0R1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  "  45 

quantities  as  the  mother-country  might  wish  to  export. 

By  these  regulations,  those  parts  not  enriched  by 
mines  of  gold  or  silver  were  sunk  in  poverty  in  the 
midst  of  their  natural  riches.  As  the  centuries  passed, 
some  of  these  restrictions  were  modified,  but  foreigners 
were  rigidly  excluded  from  the  markets,  and  the  court 
of  Spain  enforced  the  right  to  an  exclusive  dominion 
over  the  vast  seas  surrounding  its  American  possessions. 

A  distinguished  writer  of  those  times  gives  the  fol- 
lowing description  of  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment in  Mexico  during  the  reign  of  Charles  IV.,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century:  "Every  office 
was  publicly  sold,  with  the  exception  of  those  that  were 
bestowed  upon  court  minions  as  the  reward  of  disgrace- 
ful services.  Men  destitute  of  talent,  education  and 
character  were  appointed  to  offices  of  the  greatest  re- 
sponsibility in  Church  and  State;  and  panders  and 
parasites  were  forced  upon  America  to  superintend  the 
finances  and  preside  in  the  supreme  courts  of  appeal. 
For  the  colonists  there  was  no  respite  from  official  blood- 
suckers. Each  succeeding  swarm  of  adventurers  in 
their  eagerness  to  indemnify  themselves  for  the  money 
expended  in  purchasing  their  places,  increased  the 
calamities  of  provinces  already  wasted  by  the  cupidity 
of  their  predecessors.  Truly  might  the  Hispano  Ameri- 
cans have  exclaimed,  'That  which  the  palmer  worm 
hath  left  hath  the  locust  eaten;  that  which  the  locust 
hath  left  hath  the  canker  worm  eaten,  and  that  which 
the  canker  worm  hath  left  hath  the  caterpillar  eaten.'  " 

The  same  writer  thus  forcibly  describes  the  con- 
ditions of  Mexico  immediately  preceding  the  events 
which  led  to  the  revolution:    "The  condition  of  Mexico 


•Kennedy,  in  his  history  of  Texas,  1S41. 


46  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  was  stamped 
with  the  repulsive  features  of  an  anarchical  and  semi- 
barbarous  society,  of  which  the  elements  were  an 
aboriginal  population,  satisfied  with  existing  in  unrao- 
lested  indigence;  a  chaos  of  parti  colored  castes,  equally 
passive,  superstitious  and  ignorant;  a  numerous  Creole 
class,  wealthy,  mortified  and  discontented;  and  a  com- 
pact phalanx  of  European  officials,  the  pampered  mame- 
lukes  of  the  crown,  who  contested  for  and  profited  by 
every  act  of  administrative  iniquity.  Public  opinion 
was  unrepresented,  there  were  no  popularly  chosen 
authorities,  no  deliberative  assemblies  of  the  people,  no 
independent  publications,  for  the  miserably  meager 
press  was  but  a  shadow,  a  light-abhorring  phanton 
evoked  to  stifle  free  discussion  by  suppressing  its  cause, 
and  bound  to  do  the  evil  bidding  of  a  blind,  disastrous, 
suicidal  tyranny," 

As  early  as  1502  the  Spanish  monarch  was  con- 
stituted head  of  the  American  church,  and  no  separate 
spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the  Roman  pontiff  was  allowed 
to  interfere  with  the  royal  prerogative  in  which  was 
concentrated  every  branch  of  authority  and  to  which  all 
classes  were  taught  to  look  for  honor  and  preferment. 
Under  this  system  the  security  of  the  power  of  Spain 
depended  upon  the  ignorance  and  blind  idolatry  of  the 
people,  whom  education  would  have  made  impatient  of 
tin-  yoke  which  comparison  would  have  rendered  doubly 
galling. 

Mental  slavery  and  entire  subjection  to  the  will  and 
judgment  of  spiritual    teachers    was   the  secret  of   this 

m  of  arbitrary  rule  by  which  Spain  during  three 
«  enturies  so  quietly  governed  Mexico.  Spain  was  held 
up    to    the    people   as    the   queen    of    nations;  and  the 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DrAZ.  an 

Spanish,  as  the  only  Christian  language;  and  the  people 
were  taught  that  their  fate  was  much  better  than  that 
of  any  others  of  mankind. 

To  perpetuate  this  ignorance  and  effectually  guard 
against  foreign  influences,  the  "Laws  of  the  Indies" 
made  it  a  capital  crime  for  a  foreigner  to  enter  the 
Spanish  colonies  without  a  special  license  from  his 
Catholic  majesty,  the  king  of  Spain;  nor  were  these 
licenses  granted  unless  researches  in  natural  history 
were  the  ostensible  object  of  the  applicant. 

All  Protestants  were  indiscriminately  condemned 
as  unbelievers  and  heretics,  with  whom  no  good  Catho- 
lic could  hold  intercourse  without  contamination. 

In  Mexico  as  in  Spain,  the  inquisition  was  firmly 
established  with  all  of  its  horrid,  inhuman  and  unchrist- 
ian rites;  and  it  discharged  its  duties  with  relentless 
rigor  and  excessive  zeal. 

Its  tendency  was  not  only  to  direct  the  conscience 
in  matters  of  religion,  but  to  stifle  inquiry  in  everything 
that  could  give  enlightenment  upon  the  science  of  poli- 
tics and  government.  Modern  histories  and  political 
writings  were  rigorously  proscribed  in  Mexico;  and  in 
1811  the  doctrine  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  was 
denounced  as  a  damnable  heresy.  Thus  doctrines 
directly  opposed  to  Republican  principles,  and  based 
upon  ignorance  and  prejudice,  were  carefully  inter- 
woven with  the  religion  of  the  people. 


CHAPTER  IV, 

1808  TO  l8ll 

Bonaparte  and  Spain — Joseph  on  the  Throne — 
Spain  Adopts  a  Constitution  —  Who  Owns 
Mexico?  —  Hidalgo's  Conspiracy  —  Insurrec- 
tion— Politics — El  Grito  de  Dolores — Cap- 
tures  Cities  —  Excommunication  —  Battles — 
Retreat — Capture  and  Death  of  Hidalgo. 

SOME  of  the  iniquities  of  the  system  of  government 
which  prevailed  in  Mexico  for  three  centuries  have 

been  presented.  As  it  was  not  in  the  nature  of 
things  that  such  a  system  should  prevail  any  longer 
than  the  power  to  enforce  it  was  retained,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising to  find  that  the  subversion  of  the  Spanish  mon- 
archy in  Europe  was  followed  by  the  separation  of  the 
colonies  from  the  mother-country,  and  the  final  estab- 
lishment of  their  independence. 

Spain  at  this  period  was  a  divided  and  degraded 
nation.  The  king,  Chas.  IV,  old  and  imbecile,  was 
ruled  by  his  queen,  whose  wicked  passions  were  entirely 
under  tin-  influence  of  the  base  and  unprincipled  Godoy, 
who  had  been  raised  by  her  guilty  love  from  a  low 
Station  to  the  supreme  conduct  of  affairs.  This  ruling 
junto  was  held  in  hatred  and  contempt  by  a  powerful 
at  the  head  oi  which  was  Prince  Ferdinand,  heir 
to  the  throne. 

While     Napoleon,    emperor   of    the     French,    was 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  49 

secretly  advancing  his  long  cherished  schemes  for  seiz- 
ing the  throne  of  Spain,  the  royal  family  was  engaged 
in  petty  conspiracies  and  domestic  broils.  Terrified  at 
length  by  a  popular  outbreak  against  himself  and  his 
minister,  the  king  abdicated  the  throne  in  favor  of  his 
son  Ferdinand. 

Napoleon  now  saw  and  improved  his  opportunity. 
French  troops  were  sent  across  the  frontier  to  occupy 
important  posts,  while  Murat,  with  a  large  army,  took 
possession  of  the  capital.  In  the  mean  time  Chas.  IV, 
regretting  the  steps  he  had  taken,  and  asserting  that 
his  abdication  had  been  the  result  of  fear  and  compul- 
sion, appealed  to  Napoleon  and  invoked  his  assistance 
in  restoring  him  to  the  throne.  Napoleon  enticed  the 
whole  royal  family  to  Bayonne,  and  compelled  both 
father  and  son  to  renounce  the  throne;  and  a  few  days 
later,  Joseph  Bonaparte,  the  brother  of  Napoleon,  was 
proclaimed  king  of  Spain. 

Although  the  schemes  of  Napoleon  were  assisted 
by  a  party  among  the  Spaniards  themselves,  yet  the 
spirit  of  the  nation  generally  was  roused  by  the  usurpa- 
tion; and  first  a  central  junta,  and  then  a  regency,  was 
established,  which  was  declared  to  be  the  only  legiti- 
mate souice  of  power  during  the  captivity  of  the 
sovereign. 

A  democratic  constitution  and  the  sovereignty  of 
the  people  were  now  substituted  for  the  royal  prerogative 
and  the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  both  the  form  and 
the  spirit  of  the  Spanish  government  were  essentially 
changed. 

These  events  created  a  powerful  impression  upon 
the.  generally  ignorant  population  of  Mexico,  where  un- 
til then,  Spain  had   been    regarded  as  the  mother  of 


5o  HIS  TOR  ) '  OF  MEXICAN  POL  I  TICS, 

kingdoms,  on  whose  dominions  the  sun  never  set,  and 
whose  arms  were  the  terror  of  the  world. 

As  it  had  ever  been  an  established  principle  that 
the  Spanish  possessions  of  America  were  vested  in  the 
crown  and  not  in  the  State,  the  king  was  the  only  tie 
that  connected  the  colonies  with  the  mother  country; 
and  they  could  see  no  justice  in  the  claim  by  which 
their  obedience  was  demanded  to  a  government  which 
the  Spanish  people  had  adopted  in  the  absence  of  their 
monarch.  As  Spain  itself  was  over- run  and  occupied 
by  the  arms  of  France,  the  people  concluded  that  the 
government  was  absolutely  destroyed. 

vSo,  when  tidings  of  the  dethronement  of  the  Span- 
ish monarch  in  1808,  and  the  occupation  of  the  capital  by 
a  French  army,  reached  Mexico,  the  viceroy  solicited  the 
support  of  the  people,  and  declared  his  determination  to 
preserve  to  the  last  his  fidelity  to  his  and  their  sovereign. 
The  people,  flattered  by  the  importance  so  unexpectedly 
con cedc-d  to  them,  gladly  expressed  their  devoted 
loyalty  and  their  resolve  to  support  the  authority  of  the 
viceroy.  A  very  kind  feeling  immediately  grew  up  be- 
tween the  government  and  the  Creoles;  and  as  a  further 
measure  to  conciliate  the  latter,  it  was  proposed  that  a 
national  assembly  should  be  called,  to  be  composed  of 
deputies  from  the  provinces,  elected  by  the  people. 

This  measure,  however,  was  violently  opposed  by 
the  European  Spaniards,  as  being  an  infraction  of  their 
rights  and  a  violation  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown. 
Finding  that  the  viceroy  was  determined  to  admit  the 
■  a  large  share  in  the  government,  the  court  of 
the  audiencia,  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  cf  Mexico, 
composed  entirely  of  Europeans,  seized  the  viceroy, 
whom  they  imprisoned  with  his  principal  adherents. 


FROM  COiriEZ  TO  DIAZ.  51 

The  Europeans  both  in  the  capital  and  in  the  in- 
terior then  formed  patriotic  associations  for  the  defense 
of  what  they  termed  their  rights,  and  armed  themselves 
against  the  Creoles.  Although  the  latter,  unused  to 
arms,  submitted  for  the  moment,  yet  their  spirits  were 
aroused,  and  the  subject  of  controversy  became  one,  not 
between  their  sovereign  and  themselves  as  subjects,  but 
between  themselves  and  the  comparatively  small  number 
of  European  Spaniards,  as  to  which  should  possess  the 
right  of  administering  the  government  during  the  cap- 
tivity of  the  king. 

The  violence  and  arrogance  of  the  audiencia  in- 
creased among  the  Creoles  their  feelings  of  hostility  to 
the  Europeans,  a  general  impatience  to  shake  off  the 
yoke  of  foreign  control  was  manifested  throughout  the 
entire  country,  and  clubs  were  formed,  which,  while 
nominally  of  a  literary  character,  were  really  political 
in  their  nature  and  plans.  These  clubs  had  an  organi- 
zation and  maintained  correspondence  with  each  other, 
with  the  view  to  future  co-operation  in  the  work  of 
revolution. 

The  best  organized  of  these  societies  had  head- 
quarters at  Dolores,  a  little  town  about  190  miles  north- 
west from  the  capital,  where  the  parish  priest,  Manuel 
Hidalgo,  officiated  and  was  president  of  the  club.  This 
priest  was  born  on  the  8th  of  May,  1752;  and,  though 
of  poor  and  humble  parentage,  he  was  educated  for  the 
ecclesiastical  profession  in  a  school  at  Valladolid. 

In  1779,  he  took  holy  orders  at  the  capital,  and 
held  various  livings;  and  at  the  death  of  his  brother, 
also  a  priest,  he  succeeded  him  as  Cura  at  Dolores. 
His  learning  and  good  qualities  gained  for  him  great 
popularity  and  influence  wherever  he  was  known.     To 


52  HIS  TOR  ) r  OF  MEXICAN  POIITICS, 

him  has  been  given  the  title  of  The  Father  op  Mexi- 
can Independence. 

After  many  years  of  reflection  upon  the  wrongs 
perpetrated  upon  the  Mexican  people  by  the  viceroys 
and  other  Europeans  who  were  officers  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  also  upon  the  proper  measure  for  their  relief 
and  redress,  he  resolved  to  take  steps  toward  organizing 
a  government  by  Mexicans,  of  Mexicans  and  for  Mexi- 
cans. Pie  took  into  his  confidence  three  captains  of  the 
Mexican  army  named  Allende,  Aldamas  and  Arias,  all 
of  whom  were  of  mixed  blood;  and  also  two  attorneys 
named  Altamarino  and  L,aso.  J  After  long  deliberation, 
they  adopted  a  plan  of  action,  which  was,  to  make 
prisoners  of  all  public  officers,  all  Europeans,  and  of  all 
persons  of  importance  who  were  in  any  manner  con- 
nectcd  with  the  government  or  in  sympathy  with  it. 

Having  so  done,  they  were  to  proclaim  Mexico  in- 
dependent of  Spain;  to  form  a  government,  to  be  com- 
posed of  a  .senate  and  house  of  representatives  from  the 

le  of  the  provinces;  and  to  establish  this  govern- 
ment in  the  interest  and  in  the  name  of  Ferdinand  VII 

yereign.  They  were  to  prepare  for  the  successful 
inauguration  of  this  plan  by  enlisting  confederates  and 
co  operative  companies  in  some  of  the  principal  citiesof 
the  country;  and  to  have  all  ready  for  consummation  by 
the  8th  of  December,  1810,  when  the  great  annual  fair 
for  the  valley  of  the  Lerma  took  place  at  San  Juan  de 
in  the  state  of  Jalisco,  when  the  great 
number  of  people  attending  would  enable  them  to  col- 

i  sufficient  for  e  without  exciting  suspicion. 

Hidalgo,  as  before  stated,  was  the  officiating  priest 
at  Dolores;  ami  tin-  officers  were  on  duty  at  San  Miguel 
ami  elsewhere  in  some  of  the  cities  of  the  valley  of  the 


FROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  53 

Lerma,  which  is  the  longest  river  in  Mexico,  and  has  in 
its  tributary  valleys  some  of  the  most  important  cities 
and  centers  of  population  in  the  whole  country.  One  of 
the  features  of  the  plan  proposed  was  to  confiscate  the 
property  of  the  captured  victims  and  then  to  send  them 
back  to  Spain. 

It  was  in  1S09  that  the  promoters  of  this  revolution 
first  commenced  their  work  of  organization,  though  Hi- 
dalgo, the  leader,  had  long  been  indulging  in  emotions 
of  hostility  and  sympathy,  while  considering  the  wrong.; 
perpetrated  upon  and  endured  by  the  Creoles,  mestizos 
and  Indians  at  the  hands  of  the  viceroy  and  Spaniards. 

Allende  and  Aldama  visited  some  of  the  cities  of 
the  country  in  pursuance  of  the  plan;  and  all  worked 
well,  until  a  traitor  disclosed  the  scheme,  when  imme- 
diately arrests  were  made  in  Valladolid  and  Queretaro. 
The  information  of  the  arrests  and  the  disclosures  came 
to  Hidalgo  in  the  night  of  September  15,  181c,  while  he 
was  in  bed.  Hastily  rising,  he  proceeded,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  nine  comrades,  one  of  them  being  his  lieu- 
tenant Allende,  to  liberate  and  arm  the  prisoners, 
mostly  political,  in  the  Dolores  jail,  and  to  arrest  and 
imprison  all  the  Spaniards  in  the  city. 

By  this  time  it  was  morning,  and  being  Sunday, 
he  had  the  bells  of  his  church  rung  for  mass  at  an  un- 
usually early  hour.  After  officiating  for  the  last  time 
at  that  place  in  this  religious  duty,  he  informed  the 
gathered  worshippers  of  the  situation  of  affairs,  and  as- 
sured them  that  under  the  guidance  of  divine  providence 
a  new  era  had  dawned  upon  the  country.  He  stated 
that  the  French  emperor,  Napoleon,  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  their  king  and  of  the  throne  of  Spain,  had  dese- 
crated their  sacred  places  and  threatened  to  overthrow 


54  HISTi  )R  V  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

their  holy  religion;  and  that  the  Spaniards,  after  having 
despoiled  their  ancestors  and  themselves  for  three  hun- 
dred years,  were  now  consummating  their  infamy  by  sel- 
ling them  out  to  the  French  infidels. 

He  told  them  that  the  time  for  action  on  their  part 
had  now  come.  When  he  asked,  "Will  you  be  slaves 
of  Xapoleon  or  will  you  as  patriots  defend  your  re- 
ligion, your  hearths  and  your  rights?"  there  was  a 
unanimous  cry,  "We  will  defend  to  the  utmost !  Long 
live  religion,  long  live  our  most  holy  mother  of  Guada- 
lupe !  L,ong  live  America  !  Death  to  bad  government, 
and  death  to  the  Qachupines  !  "  This  was  I'll  grito  dc 
Dolores,  "the  cry  of  Dolores,"  and  it  became  the  watch- 
word of  the  revolution. 

So  it  was  that  the  poor  and  oppressed  of  this  little 
Indian  town  proclaimed  the  independence  of  a  great  na- 
tion. From  a  neighboring  church  Hidalgo  took  a 
banner  containing  a  picture  of  the  virgin  of  Guadalupe 
(the  same  banner  now  to  be  seen  in  the  National 
Museum)  and,  fixing  it  upon  a  lance,  adopted  it  as  the 
flag  <>f  his  army.  4 

To  the  inspiration  of  religious  zeal  Hidalgo  added 
tin-  more  enthusing  hope  of  gain.  He  divided  out  to  his 
mob  the  property  of  the  captured  Spaniards,  and  assured 
them  of  a  continuance  of  the  "spoils  system"  as  long  as 
they  remained  soldiers  of  the  army. 

In  after  days,  when  Hidalgo  was  remonstrated  with 
regarding  the  taking  and  malicious  destruction  of  prop- 
erty, he  declared  that  the  license  was  necessary  as  a 
measure  to  debilitate  the  enemy  and  attract  proselytes 
to  the  revolution;   and  that  he  had  good  reasons  in  ex- 

tenuationof  his  conduct: — I nthe  first  place, the  Indians 
had  been  unjustly  deprived  of  their  lands  at  the  time  of 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  55 

the  conquest.  The  Castillians  had  thus  committed  rob- 
bery when  they  dispossessed  the  original  owners.  They 
had  also  despoiled  the  Indians  of  all  their  rights  and 
goods,  and  had  reduced  them  to  slavery.  The  riches 
which  the  Spaniards  now  had  in  their  possession,  of 
right  belonged  to  the  desceudents  of  the  aborigines,  who 
were  still  the  equitable  owners  of  the  lands.  It  was  well 
known  that  in  originally  taking  their  lands  and  goods, 
greater  violence  had  been  practiced  and  inflicted.  He 
also  said,  in  the  second  place,  that  as  he  had  no  funds 
with  which  he  could  pay  and  support  his  troops,  it  was 
necessary  to  take  from  the  enemy  the  required  amount. 

But  Hidalgo's  impromptu  army  was  without  arms. 
In  this  emergency  the  lance,  bow  and  arrow,  machete, 
sling,  club  and  garrote  were  used  as  substitutes  for  fire- 
arms. With  a  force  of  four  thousand  men,  Hidalgo  and 
Allende  commenced,  on  Sunday,  their  march  to  revolu- 
tionize the  country,  free  it  from  foreigners  and  foreign 
control,  and  to  form  a  new  government  which,  strangely 
enough,  was  still  to  be  in  the  name  of  the  Spanish  mon- 
arch, Ferdinand  VII. 

Their  first  objective  point  was  San  Miguel  le 
Grande,  now  called  San  Miguel  Allende,  in  honor  of 
Hidalgo's  military  associate.  This  place  offered  no  re- 
sistance, but  all  of  the  Spanish  residents  lost  their 
liberty  and  property.  The  mob  army  had  increased  to 
many  thousands;  and,  with  liberty  of  action  and  mili- 
tary rights  hitherto  unknown,  they  literally  revelled. 
With  the  consent  of  Allende  and  the  garrison  of  that 
place,  the}-  took  all  of  the  arms  at  the  barracks.  They 
also  took  of  goods  and  property  as  suited  their  tastes  and 
wishes;  and  with  free  access  to  pulque  and  other  liquors, 
they  ran  riot;  and  order  was  restored  only  when  Allende, 


56  HIS 7X  }R  } r  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

sword  in  hand,  traversed  the  mob  and  forced  them  to 
desist.  Hidalgo  possessed  himself  of  all  the  public  funds 
and  relieved  the  Spaniards  and  other  "offensive  parti- 
sans" of  their  cash. 

On  the  1 8th  of  September  he  resumed  his  march 
and  passed  down  the  north  branch  of  the  L,erma,  taking 
cities,  citizens  and  property  on  the  announced  principles 
of  his  campaign. 

At  Celaya  his  forces  amounted  to  50,000  men,  and 
there  an  organization  was  had.  Hidalgo  proclaimed 
himself  captain  general  of  America  and  Alleude  lieu- 
tenant general.  The  troops  were  organized  into  the 
semblance  of  an  army  by  companies,  regiments,  bri- 
gades and  divisions,  as  well  as  could  be  effected  with 
the  material  of  which  it  was  composed.  Celaya  is  about 
sixty  miles  from  Dolores  and  on  the  direct  road  to  the 
City  of  Mexico. 

But  with  an  army  of  50,000  spoils-enthused,  re- 
ligion inspired,  superstitious  and  vengeful  Mexican 
Indians,  so  rich  a  booty  as  the  city  of  Guanajuato  was 
not  to  be  overlooked;  and  so  the  captain  general  marched 
on  the  morning  of  September  23d  for  that  city,  which 
was  as  far  north  as  Dolores  and  about  twenty-five  miles 

of  the  same.     The  march  of  some  eighty  miles  was 

mplished  by  the  27th,  and  on  the  28th  Hidalgo 
demanded  a  surrender  with  the  threat  to  put  all  to  the 
knife  ii  resistance  was  made. 

aajuato  was  a  very   rich  city  of  80,000  people; 

"i  them  contributed  to  the  wealth  of  the  same  as 

tives  in  the    t, 800  mines,   116  mills  and  366  facto- 

Knowing  oi  Hidalgo's  approach  and  intentions, 

e  citizens  who  were  subject  to  his  animosity  joined 

small  garrison  in  preparing  for  defense.     Such 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  57 

of  the  inhabitants  a.s  could  boast  of  neither  wealth, 
Spanish  blood  nor  official  position,  left  the  city  and  took 
seats  upon  the  ground  on  the  surrounding  hills  to  view 
the  conflict  with  more  calmness  and  indifference  than  if 
it  was  to  be  a  bull  fight;  but  when  the  city  was  captured 
they  joined  in  the  sack  and  secured  spoils. 

Resistance  having  been  made  and  the  city  taken, 
the  threats  of  Hidalgo  were  realized  by  the  unfortunate 
victims  to  the  utmost.  It  is  left  to  the  imagination  to 
supply  the  incapacity  of  speech  to  do  justice  in  the  way 
of  description.  With  50,000  fanatics  in  full  control  of 
the  rich  spoils  of  the  wealthy  city,  their  numbers  aug- 
mented by  the  multitudes  of  residents,  in  full  sympathy, 
to  wreak  vengance  upon  the  hated  Spaniards,  such 
dreadful  scenes  were  presented  as  to  cause  the  control- 
ling demon  of  destruction  to  be  fully  satisfied.  Blood 
was  shed  in  pure  hatred  of  life,  property  was  taken  and 
destroyed  from  pure  malice;  and  only  when  nothing 
remained  to  tempt  cupidity  or  inspire  vicious  activity, 
was  the  semblance  of  order  restored,  and  then  it  was 
largely  the  quiet  and  satiety  of  inebriation. 

Hidalgo,  being  educated,  refined,  and  moreover  a 
member  of  the  sacerdotal  order  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  had  his  sensibilities  greatly  disturbed  by  the 
disorder  consequent  on  the  sack  of  the  city,  and  made 
sincere  efforts  to  control  his  army.  But  the  sum  of  $5,- 
000,000  added  to  his  treasury  by  their  valor  and  assist- 
ance gave  evidence  that  in  the  matter  of  spoils,  tin.* 
general  and  his  army  was  a  unit  in  motive  and  mode  of 
procedure. 

Hidalgo  remained  at  Guanajuato,  organizing  and 
equipping  his  army  and  replenishing  his  treasury,  until 
the  10th  of  October,  when  he  marched  upon  Valladolid, 


58  HISTORY  OF  MEXIt V/.Y  POLITICS, 

his  numbers  having  been  augmented  to  60,000  men. 
Valladolid  surrendered  without  resistance,  but  the 
Spaniards  had  fled  to  the  capital.  Here  Hidalgo  added 
several  well  organized  and  armed  companies  of  militia 
to  his  army,  as  well  as  a  vast  multitude  of  spoils-thirsty 
Indians.  But  a  still  more  valuable  acquisition  was  the 
warlike  Priest  Morelos,  who  afterwards  became  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  generals  of  the  revolution. 

When  Hidalgo  commenced  his  operations,  the 
Spanish  General  Calleja  was  in  command  at  San  Luis 
Potosi,  some  eighty  miles  north  of  Dolores.  He 
promptly  organized  a  force  with  which  to  contend  with 
the  revolt,  but  was  misled  as  to  the  plans  and  move- 
ments of  Hidalgo.  So  the  "fighting  parson"  was  per- 
mitted to  march,  slay  and  plunder  without  much  resist- 
ance. Still  Hidalgo  knew  of  the  general  and  his  army, 
and  also  knew  that  if  he  wished  to  succeed  he  must  act 
promptly.  Therefore  he  marched  from  Valladolid — 
now  called  Morelia — toward  the  City  of  Mexico,  on  the 
2<>th  of  October.  On  the  way  he  captured  Toluca, 
within  twenty-five  miles  of  the  capital. 

In  the  meantime  Venegas,  the  viceroy,  had  col- 
1  about  7,000  men  in  and  near  the  City  of  Mexico 
for  its  defense.  A  small  corps,  under  the  command  of 
Truzillo,  assisted  by  Iturbide,  then  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Spanish  service,  having  advanced  to  L,as  Cruces,  about 
twelve  miles  from  the  city,  was  met  by  Hidalgo  with 
his  whole  force,  then  numbering  nearly  100,000  men. 

A  battle  took  place  which  lasted  from  8  o'clock  in 
the  forenoon  to  5  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  the 
loyalists  were  put  to  flight.  Although  the  loss  of 
Hidalgo  had  been  gnat,  he  had  gained  a  great  victory, 
and  the  City  of   Mexico  was  at  his  feet.     Alleude  and 


FROM  C0R1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  59 

others  of  the  army  urged  an  immediate  march  for  the 
prize,  but  for  some  unaccountable  reason,  he  vacillated 
from  his  former  vigorous  policy,  and  after  remaining 
for  three  days  in  camp  on  the  field  of  battle,  where  the 
city  was  almost  if  not  really  in  view,  he  ordered  a  re- 
tiring move  and  started  back  to  the  north. 

His  soldiers,  who  had  hoped  for  the  rich  spoils  to 
be  had  in  the  sack  of  the  city,  were  greatly  disappointed 
at  their  loss.  Allende  and  Aldama  were  disgusted  at  the 
failure  to  secure  the  grand  political  results  which  the 
occupancy  of  the  city  would  have  made  possible.  On 
the  retreat  to  the  north  many  desertions  took  place,  and 
the  subsequent  career  of  Hidalgo  was  a  series  of  failures 
and  disasters. 

On  the  7th  of  November  he  unexpectedly  met  the 
army  of  Calleja,  who  was  coming  from  the  north  in 
search  of  the  insurgents.  The  meeting  was  on  the 
plains  of  Aculco,  and  Hidalgo  lost  ten  thousand  men  in 
the  battle  and  slaughter  which  followed.  He  and  most 
of  his  officers  escaped,  and  with  part  of  his  army  fled  to 
Celaya,  where  he  reorganized  his  defeated  forces  and 
added  recruits,  who  either  not  knowing  of  or  disregard- 
ing his  defeat,  still  flocked  to  his  standard,  so  that  on 
the  15th  of  November  he  marched  for  Guadalajara. 
Here  he  was  received  with  all  the  demonstrations  of  joy 
which  could  be  awarded  to  victors  and  friends. 

It  may  be  stated  that  when  the  revolutionary  move- 
ments became  known,  the  government  offered  large 
rewards  for  the  heads  of  Hidalgo,  Allende  and  Aldama, 
while  the  Church  hurled  anathemas  at  them  and  ex- 
communicated the  three.  Hidalgo  was  also  called  to 
appear  before  the  inquisition,  to  answer  to  the  charge 
of  heresy  and  apostacy;  and  from  the  pulpit  he  was  de- 


60  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

nouneed  as  a  monster  of  wickedness.  The  bishops  and 
other  clergy  published  addresses  and  exhortations  in 
which  the}-  represented  him  in  the  most  dark  and 
despicable  colors.  The  archbishop  of  Mexico  issued 
edicts  and  denunciations  against  him  and  his  followers. 

These  acts  of  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Church 
were  not  fruitless  in  their  effects  on  the  citizens  from 
whom  Hidalgo  had  and  expected  recruits;  and,  know- 
ing that  unchallenged  or  neglected  on  his  part,  his  in- 
fluence and  hopes  would  be  lost  and  disappointed,  he 
took  occasion  while  at  Guadalajara  to  pay  his  respects 
to  the  edicts  and  the  commands  to  appear  before  the 
inquisition.  He  therefore  published  a  circular  in  which 
he  solemnly  declared  that  he  never  had  apostatized 
from  the  holy  faith  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  that  he 
reprobated  the  charge  of  heresy. 

He  claimed  that  in  breaking  the  chains  which  held 
the  people  in  oppression  he  had  not  performed  any  bad 
or  censurable  act.    He  further  in  said  circular  proclaimed 

mancipation  of  all  slaves,  and  decreed  death  to  all 

who  disobeyed  his  mandate.      He  exempted  people  of 

all  classes  from  payment  of  taxes,  and  promised  a  con- 

which  should  enact  just  and  beneficent  laws  for 

all  people,  alike. 

He  had  an  altar  placed  in  the  door  of  the  cathedral 

and,    robed    in    sacerdotal    vestments,   assisted    by    the 

of  the  place,  solemnized  mass  and   closed  with 

the  Te  Deutn.      Bytheseacts  Hidalgo  fully  challenged 

both  h  and  State. 

rle  also  formally  organized  a  provisional  govern- 
in. -nt  and  appointed  many  of  the  officers;  and,  notwith- 
l  (subsequenl  personal  failures  and  death,  his 
following  was  such  that  most  of  the  states  in  the  north, 


FROM  COR'lEZ  TO  DIAZ.  61 

and  some  in  the  center  and  south,  were  for  a  time  lost 
to  the  control  of  the  viceroy. 

His  courageous  acts  did  not  fail  to  secure  recruits, 
as  in  him  and  his  success  the  people  saw  a  new  govern- 
ment erected  in  their  behalf,  while  with  his  failure  they 
would  suffer  deeper  degradation  and  greater  impositions 
because  of  their  fellowship  with  him  and  their  support 
of  the  revolution.  Again  he  raised  an  army  of  100,000 
men  and  gave  battle  at  the  bridge  of  Calderon,  a  short 
distance  from  Guadalajara,  on  the  17th  of  January,  181 1. 

In  this  battle  Hidalgo  was  defeated  with  great  loss 
and  his  army  was  dispersed.  He  himself,  with  other 
officers,  escaped,  and  by  various  roads  retreated  to  the 
north  and  rendezvoused  at  Zacatecas.  But  in  the  rout 
of  his  forces  the  treasure  boxes,  containing  $800,000, 
were  saved. 

To  return  to  the  defeat  of  Hidalgo  at  Aculco,  it 
may  be  stated  that  Allende  then  separated  from  the 
main  army  with  a  detachment  to  operate  alone.  He 
moved  back  towards  Guanajuato,  but  en  route  encount- 
ered a  part  of  the  royalist  forces,  by  whom  he  was  de- 
feated. After  this  he  moved  rapidly  to  the  city  and 
slaughtered  many  Spaniards  who  had  escaped  the  pre- 
vious massacre  or  had  located  there  afterwards.  Having 
so  done,  he  moved  to'the  north  and  joined  Hidalgo  at 
Zacatecas. 

Calleja,  soon  after  Allende 's  departure,  entered  the 
city  of  Guanajuato,  where  he  avenged  the  royal  cause  for 
the  excesses  which  the  insurgent  populace  had  previ- 
ously committed  against  the  Europeans.  To  avoid  the 
waste  of  powder  and  ball,  it  is  said  that  he  cut  the 
throats  of  his  victims  or  used  the  gallows.  But  an  act 
of  clemency  may  be  mentioned  in  his  favor — he  brought 


62  HISTOR  i '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

the  accused  before  a  judge  for  trial.  But  the  processes 
were  brief  and  few  accused  escaped.  Still,  after  con- 
viction, they  were  passed  to  the  priest,  who  hastily  per- 
formed the  offices  of  the  holy  Church  for  the  benefit  of 
their  immortal  souls,  an  act  of  religious  sympathy 
which  the  Priest  Hidalgo  altogether  neglected  as  to  his 
victims. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
royalist  troops  controlled  the  country,  it  is  stated  that 
on  November  16,  1810,  General  Cruz,  loyalist,  attacked 
the  village  of  Huichapan,  where  one  of  the  insurgents 
chiefs,  named  Yillagran,  had  made  rendezvous  and 
interrupted  commerce  and  travel  between  Queretaro  and 
the  capital.  The  chief  took  refuge  in  the  hills  and 
woods,  when  Cruz  gathered  all  of  the  people  of  the  town 
together,  took  all  weapons  and  all  implements  of  hus- 
bandry, and  even  the  scissors  of  the  women,  and  burned 
them  and  all  of  the  houses  to  ashes,  and  then  put  all  of 
the  people  to  the  knife. 

Prom  Zacatecas,  Hidalgo  with  his  forces,  reduced 
to  about  4,000  men,  marched  to  Saltillo.  There,  con- 
sidering the  matter  of  future  action  and  preparing  to 
continue  the  contest  for  liberty  from  Spanish  rule,  it 
was  decided  that  Hidalgo  and  his  lieutenants  should  go 
to  the  United  States,  there  to  purchase  arms  and  secure 
aid.  They  hoped  that  they  would  thereby  soon  be  able 
to  take-  the  field  with  an  army  of  sufficient  numbers  and 
suitable  arms  to  meet   successfully  the  heretofore  better 

nized  and  armed  royal  forces. 

Hidalgo    had     previously     appointed     Aldama    as 

minister  to  the  United  States,  where  he  was  to  represent 

the   new   governmenl    and    provide   for  aid.     Aldama, 

was  captured,  and  fell   into  the  hands  of  the 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  63 

enemy,  who  executed  him  at  Monclove.  From  some  of 
his  attendants  they  learned  of  Hidalgo's  plans,  and 
thereby  they  were  enabled  to  place  an  ambuscade  on  the 
road  and  to  effect  his  capture,  together  with  his  officers, 
Allende  and  Jiminez,  and  also  the  treasure. 

In  chains  and  with  inhuman  treatment  the  prisoners 
were  taken  to  Chihuahua.  There  on  trial  they  were  all 
condemned  to  death.  Allende  and  Jiminez  with  two 
others  were  shot  on  the  26th  of  May,  but  as  Hidalgo 
was  a  priest,  he  was  turned  over  to  the  ecclesiastical 
tribunal  to  be  dealt  with  under  the  canonical  laws. 

He  suffered  great  humiliation  in  the  processes  of 
penance  for  more  than  two  months,  and  then  was  taken 
to  execution  early  on  the  morning  of  July  31,  181 1. 
His  clerical  robes  were  taken  from  him,  and  in  the 
garb  of  a  common  prisoner  and  loaded  with  chains,  he 
was  led  to  the  place  of  execution.  He  remained  firm, 
calm  and  courageous  to  the  end,  and  placed  his  manacled 
hand  over  his  heart  to  indicate  the  spot  at  which  the 
soldiers  should  aim.  They  were  bad  marksmen;  for, 
though  the  balls  cut  through  his  hand  at  the  first,  it  yet 
required  three  discharges  to  dispatch  him,  and  the  last 
was  with  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  almost  touching  his  body. 

As  an  incident  in  the  life  of  Hidalgo,  which  to  some 
extent  shows  his  disposition  and  patriotism,  it  is  stated 
that  while  at  Saltillo  he  received  an  exemplar,  or 
printed  copy  of  an  offer  of  amnesty  from  the  Spanish 
cortes,  made  to  all  insurgents  who  should  lay  down 
their  arms  and  return  to  their  allegiance  with  assur- 
ances of  pardon.  This  was  accompanied  with  an  ex- 
hortation from  General  Cruz  that  he  should  avail  him- 
self of  the  royal  offer  and  thus  put  an  end  to  the  shed- 
ding of  blood. 


64 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 


Hidalgo  replied  that  "He  had  no  power  to  accept 
the  offer.  First,  that  he  had  no  confidence  in  the  good 
faith  of  the  promises  of  the  royalists;  second,  that  he 
had  no  right  to  compromise  or  abandon  the  holy  cause 
of  liberty.  Perhaps  the  cause  of  liberty  might  be  gained 
by  his  death.     What  was  life  or  death  in  comparison 


HIDALGO. 

with   Liberty?     The  end  of  his  life  could  not  be  very 

st  mi,  but  the  liberty  which  he  expected  to  secure  for 

mntry  would  never  die.      So  then,  keep  silent  and 

fight    General    Cruz.     To   pardon  is  the   right  of  God 

ly,  and   pardon   is  for  delinquents  and  not  for  a  de- 

his  <  ountry."* 

■ 


FROM  C0R1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  65 

The  heads  of  Hidalgo,  Allende,  Aldama  and 
Jiminez  were  cut  off,  and  enclosed  in  iron  cages  were 
hung  up  at  the  four  corners  of  the  Castle  Granadites, 
in  Guanajuato.  But  in  1823,  when  the  cause  for  which 
they  had  planned,  fought  and  died  had  triumphed,  they 
with  their  bodies  were  reverently  placed  in  the  great 
cathedral  in  Mexico,  where  they  now  rest  in  honor 
among  the  tombs  of  former  viceroys  and  subsequent 
presidents. 

Inasmuch  as  the  cause  for  which  they  died  eventu- 
ally triumphed,  they  are  entitled  to  have  their  names 
enrolled  among  those  of  famous  patriots  and  martyrs  of 
the  world. 

The  name  of  Hidalgo,  the  parish  priest,  anathe- 
matized, deposed  and  excommunicated  by  the  ecclesi- 
astical authorities  and  executed  by  the  government  as 
he  was,  will  live  in  the  esteem  and  affections  of  all 
lovers  of  liberty  and  haters  of  oppression,  while  history 
is  written  and  patriotism  survives  among  men. 

With  the  death  of  the  leaders  of  the  revolution  the 
royalists  naturally  supposed  that  the  end  had  come. 
But  they  found  their  mistake,  for  the  Grita  de  Dolores, 
once  sounded,  continued  to  flow,  echo  and  resound  in 
all  parts  of  the  country. 

It  was  the  first  cheering  note  of  sympathy  which 
the  Indians  had  heard  for  three  centuries,  and  it  fell 
upon  their  ears  with  joy  and  inspired  their  hearts  with 
hope  and  patriotic  resolution.  It  was  indeed  a  new  era, 
as  declared  by  Hidalgo  on  that  never  to  be  forgotten 
Sunday  morning,  the  16th  of  September,  18 10. 


CHAPTER  V. 


l8ll  TO  1 82 1. 

Hidalgo's  Successors — Battles — Victories — De- 
feats— Congress — Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence— Capture  and  Death  of  Morelos — In- 
quisition— Last  Auto  de  fe — Defeat — Capture 
and  Death  op  Revolutionists — Overthrow  of 
Revolution. 

OX  THE  fall  of  Hidalgo,  Ramon  Rayon,  a  lawyer 
whom  Hidalgo  had  appointed  secretary  of  state 
of  the  new  government  while  at  Guadalajara,  as- 
sumed command  of  the  remaining  revolutionists  at  Sal- 
tillo  and  retreated  with  them  to  Zacatecas;  but  his  au- 
thority was  acknowledged  by  few. 

Though  insurgent  forces  were  organized  through- 
out all  of  the  central  and  northern  provinces,  yet  there 
was  no  concerted  action  among  their  commanders. 
Tli  is  was  to  be  expected  in  view  of  the  difficulty  of  com- 
municating with  each  other,  the  roads  being  few  and 
the  mails  forbidden  to  them,  and  of  the  activity  of  the 
royalist  government  and  commanders,  who  by  the  exer- 
(  ise  of  great  vigilence  over  the  country,  and  violence 
upon  prisoners  and  couriers,  secured  and  maintained 
control  over  all  the  principal  cities. 

In  the  meantime  Morelos,  the  priest,  a  former 
Student  of  Hidalgo,  who  had  joined  the  revolutionists 
at  Yalladolid,  had  not  been  idle.    In  October,  before  he 


FROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  67 

marched  upon  the  capital,  Hidalgo  had  sent  him  to 
operate  in  the  South.  There  he  developed  considerable 
strength  and  marched  toward  Acapulco.  In  a  battle 
near  that  city  he,  with  an  inferior  army  poorly  equipped, 
defeated  a  large  number  of  royalists,  whereby  he  gained 
possession  of  eight  hundred  muskets,  five  pieces  of 
artillery,  a  quantity  of  ammunition  and  a  considerable 
sum  of  money. 

Seven  hundred  prisoners  were  taken,  all  of  whom 
were  treated  with  the  greatest  humanity.  This  success 
laid  the  foundation  of  all  the  after  triumphs  of  Morelos, 
and  from  this  time  he  made  rapid  and  astonishing  pro- 
gress. By  a  series  of  victories,  which  were  never 
tarnished  by  cruelties  during  the  year  181 1 ,  he  overcame 
several  detachments  sent  against  him  by  the  viceroy; 
and  in  February,  181 2,  he  advanced  into  the  valley  of 
Mexico. 

The  alarm  created  by  this  movement  drew  upon 
him  the  blood-thirsty  General  Calleja,  who,  with  the 
army  with  which  he  had  defeated  Hidalgo  and  his  hosts 
at  Aculco  and  at  the  Bridge  of  Calderon,  marched 
against  this  most  formidable  and  skillful  of  all  the  in- 
surgent commanders. 

Morelos,  having  taken  and  fortified  Cuautla  as  a 
base  of  action,  met  Calleja  on  the  plains  in  which  the 
town  was  situated,  and  defeated  him,  having  inflicted 
the  loss  of  five  hundred  men,  who  were  left  dead  upon 
the  field.  But  the  blood  of  the  Spanish  general  was 
raised  to  excessive  heat  at  being  defeated  by  this 
Mestizo  chief  with  his  badly  armed  Mexicans,  and  he 
advanced  again  to  the  conflict;  but,  instead  of  giving 
battle  in  the  field,  he  contented  himself  with  laying 
siege. 


6S  HISTOR  } '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

Morelos  made  many  assaults  upon  the  besiegers 
with  success.  But  famine  reduced  his  forces,  and  want 
of  food  and  water  caused  great  distress.  So  great  was 
the  scarcity  that  a  cat  sold  for  six  dollars,  a  lizzard  for 
two,  a  rat  for  one.  Worms,  waterbugs  and  insects  were 
consumed  for  food,  and'old  hides  and  scraps  of  leather 
were  added  to  the  meat  food  of  the  besieged  soldiers  and 
citizens. 

The  soldiers  endured  all  this  with  fortitude  and  un- 
complaining resignation;  and  as  all  talk  of  surrender  was 
to  be  met  with  death;  it  was  determined  when  hope  of 
re-enforcements  and  supplies  had  been  abandoned  that 
the  place  should  be  evacuated.  This  was  effected  with 
such  skill  that  the  enemy  did  not  know  of  it  until  the 
rear  guard  was  out  of  the  walls.  Then  Calleja  attacked 
and  inflicted  some  damage. 

During  this  siege  Victoria  and  Bravo,  both  young 
men,  first  distinguished  themselves.  At  the  same  time 
Guerrero,  in  the  successful  defense  of  a  neighboring 
town,  began  his  long,  perilous  and  distinguished  career. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  Rayon  had 
conceived  the  idea  of  organizing  the  military  move- 
ments into  a  system  of  attack,  and  at  the  same  time, 
and  to  further  that  plan,  to  establish  a  national  junta  or 
representative  assembly  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  the 
people  iii  a  more  general  coalition  against  the  Spanish 

r.  In  accordance  with  these  views  a  central  gov- 
ernment, composed  of  five  members,  elected  from  the 

le  of  the  districts,  was  installed  in  the  town  of 
Zitacuaro  on  the  toth  of  September,  1811. 

This   body   acknowledged    the   authority  of   King 

linand,  published  their  edicts  in  his  name,  and 
evim  ed  a  liberal  and  enlighted  spirit  in  all  its  proceed- 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  69 

ings;  but  the  flattering  hopes  excited  by  it  among  the 
Creoles  were  never  realized.  The  good  intentions  and 
wisdom  of  the  junta  were  shown  by  an  able  manifesto 
drawn  up  by  General  Cos,  one  of  its  members,  and 
transmitted  to  the  viceroy.  This  paper  was  burned  in 
the  great  square  of  the  city  by  the  public  executioner; 
but,  regardless  of  the  contempt  with  which  it  was 
treated,  it  produced  great  effect  upon  the  public  mind, 
enforced  as  it  was  by  the  successes  of  Morelos  in  the 
field  during  the  years  of  1810-11-12. 

During  the  summer  of  the  last  named  year  the 
troops  of  Morelos  were  almost  uniformly  successful  in 
their  numerous  encounters  with  forces  of  the  viceroy. 

In  August,  after  an  engagement  at  Palmar  that 
lasted  three  days,  the  village  to  which  the  Spaniards 
had  retired  was  stormed  by  General  Bravo,  and  three 
hundred  prisoners  were  taken.  These  were  all  offered 
to  the  viceroy  in  exchange  for  the  father  of  Bravo,  then 
a  prisoner  at  the  capital  and  under  sentence  of  death  as 
a  revolutionist;  but  the  offer  was  rejected,  and  Bravo 
was  immediately  executed.  The  noble-hearted  son, 
General  Bravo,  who  was  afterward  honored  with  many 
high  and  important  offices  in  the  republic,  instead  of  re- 
venging himself  by  the  massacre  of  his  prisoners,  im- 
mediately set  them  at  liberty,  wishing,  as  he  said,  "to 
put  it  out  of  his  power  to  avenge  on  them  the  death  of 
his  father,  lest  in  the  first  moments  of  grief  the  tempta- 
tion should  prove  irresistible. ' ' 

In  November,  Oaxaca  was  captured  by  storm, 
although  defended  by  a  strong  royalist  garrison;  and  in 
August  of  18 13,  the  strongly  fortified  city  of  Acapulco 
surrendered,  after  a  siege  of  six  months. 

In  the  meantime  a  national  congress,  composed  of 


7o  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

the  original  junta  and  deputies  elected  by  the  neighbor- 
ing provinces,  assembled  at  the  town  of  Chilpancingo, 
about  130  miles  south  of  the  capital,  on  the  13th  day  of 
September,  1S13,  and  on  the  13th  of  November  pro- 
claimed the  independence  of  Mexico.  This  measure 
produced  little  impression  upon  the  country,  as  from 
that  time  the  fortunes  of  Morelos,  the  founder  and  pro- 
tector of  the  congress,  began  to  decline. 

Morelos  had  long  entertained  a  desire  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  Valladolid,  his  native  city,  and  there  to  estab- 
lish a  center  of  operations.  To  accomplish  this  he  left 
Chilpancingo  in  November,  with  a  force  of  seven  thous- 
and men,  and  marched  upon  that  city,  where  he  found 
a  formidable  force  under  Iturbide  prepared  to  oppose 
him. 

With  his  usual  impetuosity  Morelos  made  the  at- 
tack, but  was  repulsed  with  loss.  On  the  following  day 
Iturbide  made  a  counter-attack  while  the  revolutionists 
were  holding  a  review  on  the  adjoining  plain.  At  the 
same  time  a  large  reinforcing  insurgent  force,  mistaking 
their  friends  and  allies,  made  a  furious  attack  on  their 
Hanks.  Iturbide  taking  advantage  of  their  error,  suc- 
ceeded  in  putting  the  whole  army  of  the  insurgents  to 
Sight,  with  the  l<»ss  of  all  their  artillery.  On  the  6th  of 
January  following  Morelos  was  again  attacked  and  de- 
feated by  Iturbide. 

In  the  dispersion  which  followed  Matamoras,  a  fel- 
low priesl  and  insurgent-general  in  Morelos'  army  was 
taken  prisoner;  and  although  Morelos  offered  a  number 
of  Spanish  prisoners  in  exchange  for  him,  yet  the 
viceroy  rejected  the  offer,  and  ordered  him  shot.  The 
insurgents,  by  means  of  reprisal,  immediately  put  all 
of  tluir  prisoners  to  death. 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ  71 

Morelos  never  recovered  from  the  losses  which  he 
sustained  at  Valladolid.  Although  he  displayed  as 
much  resolution  and  energy  as  before,  yet  he  lost  action 
after  action.  All  his  strong  posts  were  taken,  the  con- 
gress at  Chilpancingo  was  broken  up,  and  several  of  his 
best  generals  died  on  the  field  of  battle  or  perished  upon 
the  scaffold. 

In  November  of  18 15,  while  convoying  a  small 
party  of  the  deputies  of  congress  to  a  place  of  safety, 
he  was  attacked  by  a  large  force  of  royalist  troops. 
Ordering  General  Bravo  to  continue  the  march  with  the 
main  body  as  an  escort  to  the  congress,  and  remarking 
that  his  life  was  of  little  consequence,  so  that  the  con- 
gress could  be  saved;  he  endeavored  with  only  fifty  men 
to  check  the  advance  of  the  Spaniards.  He  gained  the 
desired  time,  and  with  only  one  living  survivor  was 
taken  prisoner.  Spanish  barbarity  prompted  to  the  most 
severe  and  inhuman  treatment.  He  was  stripped  of  his 
clothing  and  taken  in  chains  to  a  Spanish  garrison.  He 
suffered  abuse  and  great  humiliation  on  his  way  to  the 
City  of  Mexico. 

His  case  was  brought  before  the  inquisition,  which, 
having  been  suspended  in  June,  18 13,  was  re-established 
in  January,  1S14,  to  combat  the  spread  of  "revolution- 
ary ideas"  in  Mexico. 

This  auto  de  fc  was  held  on  the  26th  of  November, 
1815.  He  was  found  guilty  of  heresy,  of  profaning  the 
sacraments,  of  disregarding  his  religious  obligations,  of 
having  despised  totally  all  ecclesiastical  authority,  and 
of  having  lived  immorally  and  in  expiation,  therefor,  he 
wa ;  made  to  put  on  the  dress  of  a  penitent,  and  in  the 
presence  of  an  immense  audience  abjure  his  heresies 
with  religious  exercises.     The   ceremony  of  reconcilia- 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

ti  :i  was  held  with  the  penitent  upon  his  knees,  reciting 
the  proper  ceremonial  words,  and  enduring  the  proper 
ceremonial  flogging.  The  torment  of  burning  alive, 
practiced  in  earlier  times  by  the  alleged  only  and  true 
church  of  the  pure  and  inoffensive  Christ,  had  been 
abolished. 

This  was  the  last  auto  de  fe  held,  as  the  inquisition 
had  no  further  opportunity  to  exercise  its  power  in 
Mexico.  It  was  suppressed  in  Spain,  and  became  in- 
operative in  Mexico  May  31,  1820,  a  short  time  before 
the  overthrow  of  the  Spanish  dominion. 

Having  been  punished  by  the  Church  for  spiritual 
delinquencies  and  offenses,  Morelos  was  by  decree  of 
the  state  taken  to  execution  on  the  morning  of  Decem- 
ber 22,  1S15,  at  San  Christobal  Ecatepec,  where  in 
former  days  the  viceroys  were  received.  Here  upon  his 
knees  he  uttered  the  following  simple  prayer,  "L,ord,  if 
I  have  done  well  thou  knowest  it;  but  if  ill,  to  thy  in- 
finite mercy  I  commend  my  soul."  Then  he  gave  the 
signal,  and  a  ball  traversed  the  heart  of  "the  servant  of 
tile  nation.  " 

The  portrait  of  Morelos  adorns  the  national  gal- 
leries,  and  it  is  also  found  in  many  private  collections 
in  the  houses  of  patriotic  citizens  of  Mexico,  and  his 
statue  is  erected  in  many  public  places.  His  memory 
is  cherished  as  one  of  the  bravest,  purest  and  most  suc- 

iil  patriots  who  upheld  and  suffered  martyrdom  for 
in  political  and  spiritual   methods  in  Mexico. 

Though    disowned,    condemned   and   punished  by 
the  Church,  In-  was  a  religious  enthusiast,  always  con- 
;i  before  and  after  battle,  and  maintaining 
ligious  lii<-  in  Geld  and  camp. 

thecaptureoi  Morelos  the  cause  of  the  revolu. 


FROM  COR1  F.Z  TO  DIAZ. 


73 


tion  languished;  for  though  it  was  supported  in  many- 
parts  of  the  country  by  leaders  of  courage  and  talent, 
yet  no  one  possessed  sufficient  influence  to  combine  the 
operations  of  the  whole  and  prevent  the  jarring  interests 
of  the  different  leaders  from  discord. 

The  principal  insurgent  leaders  were  Teran,  Guer- 
rero, Rayon,  Torres,  Bravo  and  Victoria. 

Teran  remained  mostly  in  the  province  of  Puebla, 
where,  after  having  disbanded  congress,  which  had 
taken  refuge  in  his  jurisdiction,  he  for  sometime  carried 
on  a  desultory  warfare  in  which  he  had  varying  success, 
though  straitened  greatly  for  want  of  arms.  He  was 
finally  compelled  to  surrender,  on  the  21st  of  January, 
18 1 7.  His  life  having  been  secured  by  the  terms  of 
capitulation,  he  lived  in  obscurity  in  Puebla  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  second  revolution  in  1821. 

Guerrero  occupied  the  western  coast,  where  he 
maintained  the  revolutionary  cause  in  the  mountainous 
districts  until  1821,  when  he  joined  Iturbide. 

Rayon  commanded  in  the  northern  part  of  Valla- 
dolid.  His  principal  stronghold  was  besieged  by  Itur- 
bide in  January,  18 15,  and  an  attack  on  his  works  was 
repelled  on  the  4th  of  March  following.  But  finally, 
during  his  absence,  the  fortress  surrendered  in  18 17; 
and  soon  after  Rayon  himself,  deserted  by  all  of  his 
adherents,  was  taken  prisoner  and  was  confined  in  the 
capital  until  the  change  of  sentiment  in  1S21. 

The  Padre  Torres,  vindictive,  sanguinary  and 
treacherous  by  nature,  had  established  a  sort  of  half- 
priestly,  half-military  despotism  in  the  Baxio,  a  very 
fertile  region  taking  in  parts  of  the  states  of  Queretaro, 
Michoacau,  Guanajuato  and  Guadalajara,  the  whole  of 
which  he  had   parcelled  out  among  his  military  sub- 


74  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  PO 1 1  TICS. 

alterns,  men  mostly  without  principle  or  virtue.  From 
his  fortress  on  the  top  of  the  mountain  Los  Remedios, 
he  was  the  scourge  of  the  country  round,  devastating 
the  most  fertile  portion  of  the  Mexican  territory,  and 
sparing  none,  whether  vSpaniard  or  Creole,  who  had  the 
misfortune  to  offend  him.  Yet,  under  the  auspices  of 
this  man  existed  for  the  time  the  o\\\y  shadow  of  a  gov- 
ernment that  was  kept  up  by  the  revolutionists.  It  was 
called  the  junta  of  Jauaxiila,  but  it  possessed  little 
authority  beyond  his  immediate  adherents. 

Bravo  was  a  wanderer  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  opposed  by  superior  royalist  forces  until  De- 
cember, i  s  i  7 ,  when  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  sent  to 
the  capital. 

Victoria,  at  the  head  of  about  2,000  men,  occupied 
the  important  province  of  Vera  Cruz,  where  he  was  a 
constant  source  of  uneasmess  to  the  viceroy,  who  at 
length  formed  a  plan  of  establishing  a  chain  of  fortified 
I «>  >>ts  sufficiently  strong  to  command  the  communica- 
tion between  Vera  Cruz  and  the  capital  and  restrain  the 
incursions  of  the  insurgents. 

During  a  struggle  of  two  years  against  all  the 
powers  <>f  the  viceroy  and  several  thousand  regular 
-■lit  (  ul  from  Spain  to  quell  this  last  and  most 
formidable  of  the  insurgent  chiefs,  Victoria  was  gradu- 
ally driven  from  his  strongholds.  Most  of  his  old  Sol- 
diers fell;  the  zeal  of  the  people  in  the  cause  of  the 
revolution    abated;   the    last    remnant   of    his    followers 

'■■'I    him    when,  unsubdued    in   spirit,  he  was   left 

lly  alone.     Resolved  not  to  yield  on  any  terms  to 

the  Spaniards,  he  refused  tin-   rank   and  rewards  which 

the  viceroy  offered  him  as  the  price  of  his  submission: 

and    unaccompanied   by  a  single  attendant,  sought  an 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  75 

asylum  in  the  mountains  and  disappeared  from  view. 

During  a  few  weeks  he  was  supplied  with  provisions 
by  the  Indians,  who  knew  and  respected  him;  but  the 
viceroy,  fearing  that  he  would  again  emerge  from  his 
retreat,  sent  out  a  thousand  men  to  hunt  him  down. 
Every  village  that  had  harbored  him  was  burned  with- 
out mercy,  and  the  Indians  were  struck  with  such 
terror  by  this  merciless  punishment,  that  they  either 
fled  at  his  appearance  or  closed  their  doors  against  him. 
For  upwards  of  six  mouths  he  was  pursued  like  a  wild 
beast,  often  surrounded,  and  on  numerous  occasions 
barely  escaping  with  his  life.  At  length  it  was  an- 
nounced that  his  dead  body  had  been  found,  and  the 
search  was  discontinued. 

But  the  trials  of  Victoria  did  not  end  here.  At  one 
time  he  was  attacked  by  a  fever  and  remained  eleven 
days  at  the  mouth  of  a  cavern,  stretched  on  the  ground, 
without  food,  expecting  the  hour  of  death.  The  vul- 
tures hovered  around  in  expectation  of  their  prey.  One 
approached  to  feast  on  his  half-closed  eyes.  He  seized 
it  by  the  neck  and  killed  it.  Nourished  by  its  warm 
blood  he  had  strength  to  crawl  to  water  and  slake  his 
parching  thirst.  With  torn  clothes  and  lacerated  body 
he  was  reduced  to  a  skeleton.  In  summer  he  subsisted 
on  roots,  fruits  and  berries,  and  in  winter  on  whatever 
he  could  obtain.  For  thirty  months  he  neither  saw  a 
human  being  nor  tasted  bread. 

Thus  nearly  three  years  passed  from  the  time  of  his 
exile  in  18  iS.  The  last  who  had  lingered  with  him 
were  two  faithful  Indians.  As  he  was  about  to  separate 
from  them  they  asked  where  he  wished  them  to  look  for 
him  if  any  change  in  the  politics  of  the  country  should 
take  place.      Pointing   in  reply  to  a  mountain  at  some 


76  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

distance,  particularly  rugged  and  covered  with  forests, 
he  told  them  that  on  that  mountain  perhaps  they  might 
find  his  bones. 

The  Indians  kept  this  in  mind,  and  as  soon  as  the 
first  news  of  the  revolution  of  1821  came  to  them  they 
si  t  out  in  quest  of  Victoria.  After  six  weeks  of  search- 
ing they  found  footprints  of  a  white  man  and  watched 
around  for  some  days,  until  their  stock  of  provisions 
was  exhausted,  when  suspending  two  corncakes  on  a 
tree,  believing  that  Victoria  would  pass,  and  seeing 
them  would  know  that  friends  were  seeking  him,  they 
returned  to  their  homes  for  more  food,  intending  to 
return. 

Their  plan  succeeded,  for  Victoria  came  to  the  place 
two  days  afterwards  and  found  the  cakes  which,  fortu- 
nately, the  birds  had  not  devoured.  He  had  been  four 
days  without  food,  and  he  ate  the  cakes  before  the  crav- 
ings of  his  appetite  would  permit  him  to  reflect  upon  the 
singularity  of  finding  them  in  that  solitary  spot,  where 
he  had  never  seen  the  trace  of  a  human  being.  Not 
knowing  whether  they  had  been  left  there  by  friend  or 
foe,  hut  confident  that  whoever  had  left  them  intended 
to  return,  he  concealed  himself  near  the  place  in  order 
to  watch  for  his  unknown  visitor. 

of  the  Indians  soon  returned  and  Victoria, 
ni/ing  him,  started  from  his  concealment  to  wel- 
come  his  faithful  follower  who,  terrified  at  seeing  a 
man  haggard,  emaciated  and  clothed  only  with  an  old 
cotton  wrapper,  advancing  upon  him  from  the  bushes 
with  a  sword  in  his  hand,  took  to  flight;  and  it  was  only 
""  hearin  me  repeatedly  called  that  he  recovered 

1  corapo  lire    ufficiently  to  recognize  his  old  general. 
He  was  deeply  affected  at  the  state  in  which  he  found 


FROM  COR'lEZ  TO  DIAZ.  77 

him  and  conducted  him  instantly  to  his  village,  where 
the  long  lost  Victoria  was  received  with  the  greatest  joy 
and  enthusiasm. 

The  report  of  his  reappearance  spread  rapidly 
through  the  province,  where  it  was  not  credited  at  first, 
so  firmly  was  every  one  persuaded  of  his  death;  but 
when  it  was  known  that  Guadalupe  Victoria  was  indeed 
living,  all  the  old  insurgents  rallied  round  him. 

A  further  account  of  this  patriot  will  be  found  in 
connection  with  later  events  in  Mexican  history,  in 
which  he  was  destined  to  be  a  prominent  actor,  as  well 
as  a  high  and  influential  officer  and  statesman. 

About  the  time  of  the  dispersal  of  the  principal  in- 
surgent forces  in  1817,  and  when  the  revolutionary 
spirit  was  on  the  decline,  an  unfortunate  and  unwise, 
but  very  daring  attempt  was  made  by  Don  Xavier  Mina 
to  establish  the  independence  of  Mexico  on  a  constitu- 
tional basis  and  secure  the  liberty  of  Mexico  without  a 
separation  from  Spain.  This  visionary  plan  failed  to 
awaken  enthusiasm  among  the  people,  and  chiefly 
claims  attention  from  the  military  movements  and 
achievements  connected  therewith. 

Mina  was  a  young  Spaniard  who  had  been  engaged 
ill  guerrilla  warfare  in  Spain,  operating  first  against  the 
French  who  had  displaced  the  royal  family  from  the 
Spanish  throne,  and  then  against  the  forces  of  Ferdi- 
nand VII.  who,  on  attaining  the  throne  by  the  consent 
of  Napoleon  and  the  aid  of  the  English  troops,  set  aside 
the  constitution  which  had  been  constructed  by  the 
Cortes  and  adopted  in  1812.  Mina,  being  defeated  in 
Spain,  determined  to  transfer  the  war  against  Ferdinand 
to  the  soil  of  Mexico. 

After  securing  munitions  of  war  in  L,ondon  and  re- 


7S  HIS  1  OR  i '  OF  MEXICAN  ro LI  TICS, 

emits  in  the  United  States,  he  landed  at  Soto  la  Marina, 
about  1 25  miles  north  of  Tarapico.  Here  he  constructed 
a  fort  as  a  basis  of  operations,  and  after  leaving  a  garri 
son  moved  with  the  remainder  of  his  troops  rapidly 
toward  the  Baxio,  where  Torres  was  located.  On  the 
way  he  fought  superior  numbers  of  the  enemy  in  many 
battles  and  with  varying  results,  and  finally  reached 
Guanajuato,  where  his  forces  failed  him  by  an  unusual 
display  of  fear.  He  attempted  retreat,  but  was  captured; 
and  in  view  of  Torres,  in  his  stronghold  on  the  hill  L,os 
Remedios,  was  shot. 

After  his  death  dissensions  broke  out  among  the 
remaining  insurgents,  and  every  town  and  fortress  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  royalists.  Torres  was  killed  by 
one  of  his  own  captains.  Guerrero  with  a  small  force 
was  "H  the  western  coast,  cut  off  from  all  communica- 
tion with  the  interior;  and  Victoria,  as  has  been  related, 
had  sought  refuge  in  the  mountains. 

In  1  Si 9  the  revolutionary  cause  was  at  its  lowest 
ebb,  and  it  was  no  idle  boast  when  the  viceroy  declared, 
in  a  dispatch  transmitted  to  the  government  at  Madrid, 
that  he  would  answer  for  the  safety  of  Mexico  without 
an  additional  soldier. 

Tims  ended  the  first  revolution  in  Mexico  with  the 
total  dispersion  and  defeat  of  the  Independent  party,  after 
a  struggle  ol  nine  years  from  the  first  outbreak  at  Dolo- 
res. In  tin-  distractions  of  the  war  which  made  ene- 
mies ot  former  friends,  the  most  wanton  cruelties  were 
often  committed  by  both  armies.  Hidalgo  injured  and 
disgraced  the  cause  which  he  led  by  appealing  to  the 
passions  of  his  Indian  forces,  whose  ferocity 
appeared  the  inoir  extraordinary  after  having  lain 
dormant  so  many  years.     But  the  Spaniards  were  not 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  79 

backward  in  retaliating  upon  their  enemies,  and  Calleja, 
the  Spanish  commander,  eclipsed  Hidalgo  as  much  in 
the  details  of  cold-blooded  massacre  as  in  the  military 
art.  Morelos  was  no  less  generous  than  brave,  and 
with  his  fall  terminated  the  most  brilliant  period  of  the 
revolution. 

The  viceroy,  Apodaca,  who  succeeded  Calleja, 
adopted  a  conciliatory  policy  and  judiciously  distributed 
pardons  from  the  king,  whereby  he  reduced  the  insur- 
gents to  an  insignificant  number. 

The  revolution  was  from  the  first  opposed  by  the 
higher  orders  of  the  clergy,  who  were  by  an  encyclical 
letter  from  the  Vatican  directed  to  oppose  all  attempts 
to  secure  the  separation  of  Mexico  from  Spain.  The 
most  opulent  Creoles,  whose  business  and  religion  were 
intimately  connected  with  those  of  Spain  and  whom  the 
viceroy  conciliated,  gave  the  government  its  principal 
support  during  the  war. 

But  though  the  country  was  exhausted  by  the 
ravages  of  war,  and  though  open  hostilities  were  quelled, 
subsequent  events  showed  that  the  spirit  of  independ- 
ence was  daily  gaining  ground  and  that  Spain  had 
entirely  lost  all  those  moral  influences  by  which  she  had 
so  long  governed  her  colonies  in  the  New  World. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

I82I  TO  1823. 

Bonaparte  Benefits  Mexico — Church  Conspiracy 
— ItxjrbidE  Selected — Guerrero  Joins  Con- 
spiracy— Plan  of  Iguala — Treaty  of  Cordoba 
— Mexico  Independent  of  Spain — Regency — 
— Iturbide  Emperor  —  Dissensions  —  Revolu- 
tion— Abdication — Exile — Return — Death  as 

an  OlTI.AW. 

NAPOLEON   BONAPARTE    is  entitled   to   much 
credit  for  the  independence  of  Mexico.     He  made 
open  war  upon  the  Roman   Catholic  tenet  of  the 
divine   right   of   kings.     He    applied   this   hostility  to 
Spain,  where    he    dethroned    Charles  IV.  and  his  son, 
Ferdinand    VII.     In    their    stead    he    enthroned    his 
l»r« >t hc-r  Joseph  as  the  king  of  Spain.      In  these  acts  he 
not  «nilv  gratified  his  personal  ambition,  but  he  also,  as 
if  a  world's  statesman  and  patriot,  advanced  the  theory 
<>f  personal   liberty  and  an  enlarged  bill  of   rights  for 
even  those  who  lived  under  a  constitutional  monarchy. 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  Napoleonic  regime,  the 
I    Spain    constructed  a  constitution.      In    this 
the  order  of  Free  Masons  took  an  active  part,  and 
as  the  tendency  of  the  organic  law  thus  enacted  was  to 
limit    tlie    power  of    the    Roman    Catholic    church  in 
]",,i;  and  to  vest  political  power  in  the  people, 

ahy  as  vindictive  an   organization  as  the  Church 


FROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  Sr 

has  shown  itself  to  be  would  not  forget  to  anathematize 
the  Free  Masons. 

Regardless,  however,  of  that  fact,  the  character  of 
the  Spanish  government  was  thus  changed  from  an 
absolute  to  a  constitutional  monarchy.  By  the  funda- 
mental law  thus  enacted,  many  civil  rights  were  secured 
to  the  people,  among  which  were  liberty  of  speech  and 
of  the  press  and  a  form  of  the  elective  franchise.  Many 
wrongs  were  also  redressed,  such  as  the  removal  of  the 
excessive  church  taxes  of  the  past,  the  abolishment  of 
the  inquisition,  and  the  discontinuance  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  as  the  exclusive  religion  of  the  country. 

By  the  aid  of  Wellington  and  his  British  forces  the 
French  army  and  administration  were  removed  from 
Spain  in  1S12  and  Ferdinand  re-enthroned.  Immedi- 
ately on  his  return  to  power  and  that  he  might  gratify 
his  clerical  supporters  and  advisers,  the  newly  enthroned 
king  abolished  the  new  constitution,  restored  the  in- 
quisition and  so  far.  as  lay  in  his  power,  inaugurated 
reactionary  measures  as  to  all  reforms  established  during 
the  Napoleonic  occupation. 

Spain  then  became  the  theater  of  a  long  and  bloody 
civil  war,  but  in  1S19  Ferdinand,  deserted  by  his  own 
troops,  saw  no  safety  but  in  submission  to  the  people. 
He  therefore  ordered  the  reassembling  of  the  cortes  of 
1 81 2,  and  in  their  presence  swore  to  observe  the  con- 
stitution promulgated  by  that  bod}'.  The  inquisition 
was  again  abolished,  several  religious  establishments 
were  suppressed  and  their  revenues  confiscated  to  the 
state. 

The  constitution  and  new  orders  as  to  the  inquisi- 
tion and  religious  fraternities  thus  adopted  in  Spain  of 
course  had  full  effect   in    Mexico.      Being:   liberal    and 


HISTOkY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

jressive,  those  measures  excited  the  hostility  of  the 

,-  and  principal  Spaniards  who  had  been  such  great 

beneficiaries  under  the  old  order,  and  their  opposition 

_    the  form   of  a  resolution   "to  separate  absolutely 

from  Spain  and  its  radicalism." 

Obedient  to  orders  from  the  Vatican  the  clergy  had 
opposed  the  revolution  of  Hidalgo,  but  it  was  that  the 
interests  and  revenues  of  the  Church  might  be  the 
better  conserved.  Now  the  same  interests  were  im- 
periled. Therefore  many  of  the  clergy  and  disaffected 
Spaniards  held  secret  consultations  and  perfected  a  con- 
spiracy having  in  view  primarily  the  continuance  of  the 
rights  of  religious  orders  and  the  revenues  of  the 
Church;  and  secondarily,  the  methods  whereby  the 
le  could  be  induced  to  co-operate.  As  a  specious 
cry  whereby  the  multitude  could  be  enthused  and 
aroused  to  action,  it  was  declared  that  with  the  new 
order  their  religion  was  imperiled. 

To  make  their  conspiracy  effective  it  was  necessary 

to   have  a  military    leader.     One  in  whom  they  could 

trust,  Don  Augustin  Iturbide,  was  selected.     He  was  a 

-",    having    a    Spanish    father    and    a    Mexican 

mother,  was  a  soldier  of  many   years'  experience  in  the 

field,  having  been  an  off]   eroi   the  royalist  army  which 

t  Hidalgo  and  in  command  of  the  army  which  de- 

I  Morelos  at  <  ruadalajara. 

[turbide  had  become   imbued   with    liberal  ideas  in 

the  latter  years  of  the  revolutii  a  and  sympathized  with 

•  who  wished  the  independence  of    Mexico.     He 

1  td  r<  signed  |  in  the  imperial  army  and  retired 

.  and  was  jnst  the   man  to  lead  in  the  new 

he  was  a  soldier  with  a  brilliant  record 

"out  oi    a  job."      He   was   also  in  financial  straits 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  83 

and  gladly  accepted  the  proffered  leadership,  which  he 
hoped  would  bring  him  both  fame  and  riches. 

To  secure  an  army  as  well  as  a  leader,  the  con- 
spirators persuaded  the  Viceroy  Apodaca  to  appoint 
Iturbide  to  the  command  of  a  force  to  operate  against 
Guerrero,  who  still  had  a  revolutionary  army  in  the 
south.  Iturbide  departed  from  the  capital,  but  with 
very  different  intentions  from  those  which  the  viceroy 
supposed  him  to  entertain.  To  carry  out  in  appearance 
the  plans  of  the  viceroy  he  moved  to  the  south  and  met 
Guerrero,  but  was  defeated  by  him. 

Realizing  the  importance  of  securing  the  aid  of  the 
old  revolutionists,  Iturbide  sought  an  interview  with 
Guerrero  and  laid  before  him  his  plans;  the  end  being 
the  independence  of  Mexico,  Guerrero  joined  and  made 
common  cause  with  Iturbide  who,  then  having  an  army 
of  5,500  men  at  his  command,  moved  to  the  little  town 
of  Iguala,  on  the  road  to  Acapulco,  where  on  the  24th 
day  of  February,  1821,  he  proclaimed  his  project  known 
as  the  "plan  of  Iguala,"  and  induced  his  soldiers  to 
take  an  oath  to  support  it. 

This  plan  had  three  clauses,  called  the  "three 
guarantees."  The  first  was,  that  the  religion  of  the 
Mexican  nation  should  be  the  Roman  Catholic  Apos- 
tolic, to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  with  all  the  rights, 
privileges  and  revenues  of  the  Church  unimpaired;  the 
second,  that  the  Mexican  nation  should  be  a  constitu- 
tional monarchy  with  Ferdinand  VII.  or  one  of  his 
brothers  on  the  throne;  and  the  third,  that  all  inhabit- 
ants of  Mexico,  whether  Spaniards,  Mexicans,  Mestizos, 
Negros  or  Indians,  should  be  citizens  of  the  new  nation, 
to  whom  all  places  of  profit  or  preferment  should  be 
open,  the  only  tests  being  virtue  and  merit.     To  carry 


S^  HISTOR  1 '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

these  provisions  into  effect  a  constitution  was  to  be 
formed  by  a  Mexican  congress,  members  of  which  were 
to  be  elected  by  the  people. 

Iturbide  lost  no  time  in  informing  the  viceroy  of  his 
work,  and  in  view  of  the  confidence  which  existed 
mutually,  offered  him  the  presidency  of  the  junta  to  be 
formed  to  carry  out  the  good  work  of  independence. 
Apodaca  refused  and  immediately  issued  a  proclama- 
tion opposing  the  movement,  warning  the  people  against 
giving  aid  to  the  insurgents  and  offering  pardon  to  all 
who  would  abandon  the  revolution.  He  also  con- 
centrated an  army  a  short  distance  south  of  the  capital 
to  defend  and  defeat. 

His  actions  not  being  sufficiently  energetic  to  suit 
other  officials  he  was  deposed,  and  Don  Francis  Novello, 
a  military  officer,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  govern- 
ment. But  his  authority  was  not  generally  recognized 
mid  [turbide  was  left  to  pursue  his  plans  without  inter- 
ruption. 

Having  the  co-operation  of  Guerrero  all  the  old  in- 
surgent chief--,  including  the  long  missing  Victoria, 
soon  joined  and  with  them  whole  detachments  of  the 
old  revolutionary  forces.  The  Creole  troops  who  had 
not  joined  in  the  first  now  took  part  in  this  second 
revolution.  The  clergy  publicly  gave  countenance  and 
support  to  the  movement  which  they  had  secretly  set  on 
foot,  and  t!i  •  most  distant  provinces  soon  sent  in  their 
adhen  ace  1  i  the  can  e;  and  before  the  end  of  the  month 
of  July  the  whole  country  recognized  the  authority  of 
[turbide,  with  the  exception  of  the  capital,  in  which 
Novello  had  shut  himself  up  with  the  European  troops. 
Valladolid,  Puebla  and  Queretaro  were  captured  and 
thecapitalwa  ■  •!.     Santa  Anna  now  for  the  first 


FRO <M  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  85 

time  became  prominent  as  a  leader  in  the  revolution 
and  commanded  a  force  at  Vera  Cruz.  The  whole 
country  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Iturbidists. 

Under  these  conditions  there  landed  at  Vera  Cruz 
General  Juan  O'Douoju,  the  sixty-fourth  and  last  of 
the  Spanish  viceroys.  Iturbide  arranged  to  meet  him 
at  Cordoba,  where  he  was  induced  to  accept  by  treaty 
the  "Plan  of  Iguala"  as  the  o::ly  means  of  saving  the 
lives  and  property  of  the  Spaniards,  then  in  Mexico, 
and  of  establishing  the  right  to  the  throne  in  the  house 
of  Bourbon.  By  this  agreement,  called  the  "treaty  of 
Cordoba,"  the  viceroy  in  the  name  of  the  king,  his 
master,  recognized  the  independence  of  Mexico  on  the 
24th  of  August  and  gave  up  the  capital. 

On  the  27th  day  of  September,  1821,  Iturbide 
arrived  at  the  convent  of  San  Francisco,  dismounted 
from  his  horse,  was  received  by  the  city  council  and 
other  officers,  and  the  keys  of  the  city  were  delivered  to 
him.  At  the  palace  he  was  received  by  the  viceroy, 
who  had  preceded  him.  Then  there  was  a  grand  re- 
ligious ceremony  with  all  the  imposing  rites  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  closing  with  the  Te  Deum. 

And  so  Mexico  was  liberated  at  last;  and  of  all  that 
immense  territory  which  formed  the  brightest  jewel  in 
the  crown  of  Spain,  nothing  was  left  but  the  citadels  of 
San  Juan  de  Ulua,  Perote  and  Acapulco,  and  these  soon 
after  surrendered.  The  independence,  for  which  Hi- 
dalgo, Morelos,  Victoria,  Bravo,  and  other  heroes  vainly 
fought  during  the  long  period  of  ten  years  was  thus 
secured  in  seven  months,  and  without  further  shedding 
of  blood. 

All  opposition  being  ended  and  the  capital  occu- 
pied, in  accordance  with  the  "Plan  of  Iguala,"  a  pro- 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

visional  junta  was  selected,  the  principal  duty  of  which 
rovide   for  calling  a   convention   or  congress, 
h  should  construct  a  constitution  for  the  monarch)'. 
At  the  same  time  a  regency  was  named,  which  should 
•i  the  country  ad  interim. 
This  regency  was  composed  of  Iturbide   as  presi- 
dent, O'Douoju,  Barcena,  Yanez  and  Velasquez  deLeon. 
moju  died  in  October,  and  Antonio  Joaquin  Perez, 
:>  of  Puebla,  was  appointed  in  his  place.    Iturbide, 
to  forward  the  interest  by  which  he  had  been  elevated 
.ver,  conferred  the  presidency  upon  the  bishop  of 
Puebla,  while  lie  issumed  command  of  the  army  with 
the  title  of  Generalissimo,  lord  high  admiral,  and  also 
serene  highness.     To  all  of  these  titles  was  added  a 
ry  of  $120,000  annually. 

W'ldle  the  revolution  lasted,  his  will  was  the  law  of 
his  followers  in  everything  which  tended  to  promote  the 
itioii  from  Spain.  But  the  revolution  had  settled 
no  principle,  had  established  no  system;  and  when  the 
rder  had  been  destroyed  and  a  new  one  was  under 
discussion,  the  unanimity  which  had  prevailed  was  at 
.in  end. 

When  the  provisional  junta  was  about  to  prepare  a 

ssembling  a  national  congress,  Iturbide  desired 

the  members  should  be  bound  by  oath  to  support 

"Plan  of  Iguala"  in  all  its  parts,  before  they  could 

their   scats   in    the   congress.     To  this   Generals 

Victoria  and   Bravo  with  many  other  original 

j  objected,  wishing   that   the   people  should 

opt   by  their  deputies  such  a  plan  of 

iment  as  they  should  prefer.     Iturbide  carried  his 

of  di  content  were  sown  before  the 

■  ommenced. 


FROM  COR  IF. /.   TO  DIAZ.  87 

On  the  24th  of  February  congress  assembled,  and 
three  distinct  parties  were  found  among  its  members: 
the  Bourbonists,  who  wished  a  constitutional  monarchy, 
with  a  prince  of  Bourbon  on  the  throne;  the  republicans, 
who  desired  a  federal  republic;  and  the  Iturbidists,  who 
wished  a  monarchy,  with  Iturbide  on  the  throne  instead 
of  a  Bourbon. 

It  soon  became  known  that  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment had  repudiated  the  treaty  of  Cordoba,  declaring  it 
null  and  void.  So  the  Bourbonists  ceased  to  exist  as  a 
party;  and  the  struggle  for  an  organic  political  system 
was  thus  limited  to  the  Iturbidists  and  the  republicans. 
After  a  violent  controversy,  the  republicans  succeeded 
in  carrying  by  a  large  majority  a  plan  for  the  reduction 
of  the  army. 

The  partisans  of  Iturbide  then  saw  that'  his  in- 
fluence was  on  the  wane,  and  that  if  they  wished  ever  to 
see  him  on  the  throne,  action  must  be  had  before  the 
memory  of  his  services  should  be  lost.  Therefore  they 
concerted  their  measures  for  inducing  the  army  and  the 
populace  to  declare  in  his  favor.  Accordingly,  on  the 
night  of  the  18th  of  May,  1822,  the  soldiers  of  the  garri- 
son in  the  City  of  Mexico  and  a  mob  assembled  before 
the  house  of  Iturbide;  and,  amidst  the  brandishing  of 
weapons,  proclaimed  him  emperor,  under  the  title  of 
Augustin  the  First. 

Iturbide,  with  consummate  hypocrisy,  pretending 
to  yield  with  reluctance  to  what  he  termed  the  "will  of 
the  people,"  brought  the  matter  before  congress,  which, 
overawed  by  his  armed  partisans  and  a  mob,  gave  their 
sanction  to  a  measure  which  they  were  powerless  to  op- 
pose. The  choice  was  ratified  by  the  provinces  without 
opposition;  and  Iturbide  found  himself  in  peaceful  pos- 


HI  SI  ORY  ( >F  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

session  of  a  throne,  to  which  his  own  abilities  and  cir- 
cumstances  had  raised  him. 

Had  he  been  guided  by  counsels  of  prudence,  and 
confined    his    authority    within    reasonable    limits,    he 
might   have  maintained  his  imperial  office  indefinitely; 
but,  forgetting  the  unstable  foundation  of  his  throne,  he 
in  his  reign  with  all  the  airs  of  hereditary  royalty. 
A  struggle  for  power  immediately  commenced  be- 
tween  him  and  congress.      He  demanded  a  veto  upon 
and  every  article  of  the  constitution  then   under 
consideration;  and  the  right  of  appointing  and  removing 
at   pleasure  the   members  of   the   supreme   tribunal  of 
just: 

The   breach   continually  widened  and,  at  length,  a 

law  proposed  by  the  emperor,  for  the  establishment  of 

military  tribunals,  was  rejected  by  congress.      Iturbide 

retaliated  by  imprisoning  the  most  distinguished  mem- 

oi  that  body. 

Remonstrances    and    reclamations    followed,     and 

Itnrl.i  le,  at  length,  terminated  the  dispute  as  Cromwell 

and    Bonaparte  had   done  on  similar  occasions  before 

m,  by  proclaiming,  on  the  30th  of  October,  the  disso- 

"ii  oi  congress,  and  substituting  in  its  stead  a  junta 

is  own  appointment,  which  new  assembly  acted  as 

eady  echo  of  his  will.     Vet  it  never  possessed  any 

»"■.  and  the  popularity  of  Iturbide  did  not  long 

is  assumption  of  arbitrary  power. 

ore  the  end  oi  November  an  insurrection  broke 

the    northern    provinces,    but    it   was   speedily 

■    imperial   troops.     On  the  6th  of  Decem- 

iful   general,   Santa   Anna,  a  former  sup- 

irbide,  but  who  bad  been  dismissed  by  him 

1 nt  oi  Vera  Cruz,  published  an  address 


FROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  S9 

to  the  nation  in  which  he  reproached  the  emperor  with 
having  broken  his  coronation  oath  by  dissolving  con- 
gress; and  declared  his  intention  and  that  of  the  garri- 
son, which  had  united  with  him,  to  aid  in  the  reassem- 
bling of  congress  and  protecting  its  deliberations. 

Santa  Anna  was  soon  joined  by  Victoria,  who  had 
never  consented  to  the  empire,  to  whom  he  yielded  the 
chief  command,  in  expectation  that  his  name  and  well 
kno.vn  principles  would  inspire  with  confidence  those 
who  favored  a  republic.  A  force  sent  out  by  the  em- 
peror tj  quell  the  revolt  went  over  to  the  insurgents. 
Generals  Guerrero  and  Bravo  took  the  field  on  the  same 
side.  Dissatisfaction  spread  through  the  nation;  part  of 
the  imperial  army  revolted;  and  Iturbide,  either  fright- 
ened by  the  storm  which  he  had  conjured  up,  or  really 
anxious  to  avoid  the  effusion  of  blood,  called  together 
all  the  members  of  the  old  congress  then  in  the  capital, 
and  on  the  19th  of  March,  1823,  formally  resigned  the 
imperial  crown,  stating  his  intention  to  leave  the 
country,  lest  his  presence  in  Mexico  should  be  the  pre- 
text for  further  dissensions. 

Congress,  after  declaring  that  his  assumption  of  the 
crown  was  an  act  of  violence  and  therefore  null,  will- 
ingly allowed  him  to  leave  the  kingdom;  and  in  view  of 
the  valuable  services  he  had  rendered  the  country, 
granted  him  an  annual  pension  of  $25,000,  on  condition 
that  he  make  his  domicile  in  Italy.  With  his  family 
and  suite  he  embarked  for  Leghorn  on  the  1  ith  of  Maw 
Thus  terminated  the  first  Mexican  empire. 

The  fate  of  this  ambitious  and  weak,  though  patri- 
otic, man  whose  previous  career  had  been  so  brilliant  and 
successful  was  indeed  sad.  His  personal  magnetism  and 
the  memory  of  benefits  bestowed,  together  with  hopes  of 


90 


IIIS'IOKY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 


•ile  future  preferment,  in  ease  his  star  should  be 
again  in  the  ascendant,  had  made  for  him  many  friends 

remained  behind,  and  with  whom  he  maintained 
correspondence  and  thereby  was  kept  informed  of  the 
<icissitud.es  of  Mexican  political  affairs. 


ITI    KlUIlK. 


ntations  as  to  the  strength  of  the 

■  and  knowing  that  the  government 

•'■'  d  him  was  unstable,  he  yielded  to  hisin- 

;'   his  throne,  and   Left    Italy  for  Lon- 

|;"""  lll:l1  1  j"  '  he  sent  warnings  to  the  Mexican 

»"      ol    the   holy  alliance,  to  re- 


FROM  C0&1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  91 

store  Spanish  rule  in  Mexico:  and  offered  his  services  to 
the  country  to  aid  in  resisting  the  movement.  When 
congress  had  khowlege  that  he  had  left  Italy  and  was 
contemplating  a  return,  it  passed  an  act  of  outlawry 
upon  him,  and  pronounced  sentence  of  death  to  be  en- 
forced if  he  should  return  to  Mexico. 

On  the  14th  of  July  he  suddenly  appeared  in  Soto 
la  Marina.  The  Mexican  commander  in  the  state  of 
Tamaulipas,  in  which  that  seaport  is  situated,  in- 
vited him  to  laud;  and  then  informed  him  that,  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  decree  of  congress,  he  had  but  a  few 
hours  to  live.  The  legislative  of  the  state  in  special 
session  discussed  the  propriety  of  enforcing  the  cruel 
sentence,  and  finally  decided  that  the  execution  should 
take  place.  Five  days  afterward  he  met  his  fate  as  a 
brave  soldier  in  front  of  the  Church  at  Padilla.  A  file 
of  soldiers  by  a  single  discharge  executed  the  congress- 
ional decree. 

His  remains,  after  being  buried  in  the  Church  at 
Padilla,  were,  in  1838,  removed  to  the  cathed:al  in  the 
City  of  Mexico  and  placed  in  the  chapel  of  San  Felipe 
de  Jesus.  Upon  the  sarcophagus  enclosing  his  remains 
is  inscribed  the  word  "Liberator. " 

Notwithstanding  his  fatal  ambition,  the  patriot  who 
visits  his  tomb  can  scarcely  restrain  a  tear  at  the  sad 
fate  which  thus  terminated  the  life  of  a  "Washington." 


CHAPTER  VII. 


1823  TO  1 83 1. 

Mexico  a  Republic — The  Constitution — Roman 
Catholic  the  Exclusive  Religion — Political 
Parties — Republicanism — Centralism — Victo- 
ria President— Church  Revolts  —  Montano 
Revolts — Both  Suppressed — Pedraza  Elected 
—  Resigns — Santa  Anna  Revolts  —  Eawless- 
ness — ol'krrero  president — spanish  invasion 
-  bustamente  president  —  overthrow  and 
Death  of  Guerrero. 

OX  THE  departure  of  Iturbide  from  Mexico  an  ex- 
itive   junta    was  appointed  which   should  ad- 
minister the   government   until  the  meeting  of  a 
new  congress.     This  junta  consisted  of  Generals  Victo- 
Bravo,    Negrete    and    Guerrero,  all   distinguished 
Boldiers  <>f  the  revolution. 

Congress  assembled  on  the  23d  of  August,  1823, 

red  at   once  upon   the  work  of   formulating  a 

.itntion.      (  >n  the  3  1  si  of  January,  1824,  the  organic 

-  prepared   was  submitted,  and  on  the  4th  of 

-How  in-  it  was  (Inly  adopted. 

This  instrument  was  modeled  after  the  constitution 

I'd    States.     The   absolute    independence  of 

ntry  v  ired  and  the  several  provinces  were 

I  into  :1  f(  deral  republic  as  "The  United  Mkxican 

Tl  itive    power    was  vested  in  a  con- 


FROM  COR7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  93 

gress  consisting  of  a  senate  and  house  of  representatives. 
The  senate  was  to  be  composed  of  two  senators  from 
each  state,  elected  by  the  legislatures  thereof  for  a  term 
of  four  years.  The  house  of  representatives  was  to  be 
composed  of  members  elected  by  the  citizens  of  the 
several  states  for  a  term  of  two  years. 

The  president  wss  to  be  Mexican  born,  not  less 
than  thirtv-five  years  of  age,  and  was  to  be  elected  by 
the  legislatures  of  the  states  for  the  term  of  four  years. 
The  supreme  court  was  to  be  composed  of  eleven  judges 
not  less  than  thirty-five  years  of  age  respectively,  were 
to  be  Mexican  born  and  elected  by  the  legislatures  of 
the  states. 

The  several  states  composing  the  nation  were  to 
organize  their  governments  in  conformity  to  the  federal 
act.  Each  state  was  to  protect  its  citizens  in  the  full 
enjoyment  of  their  liberty.  No  individual  was  to  com- 
mence a  suit  at  law  without  having  previously  attempted 
in  vain  to  settle  the  case  by  arbitration.  Trial  by  jury 
was  not  provided  for,  nor  was  proper  publicity  given  to 
the  processes  of  the  courts  in  which  justice  was  ad- 
ministered. 

The  third  article  declared  "The  religion  of  the 
Mexican  nation  is  and  will  be  perpetually  the  Roman 
Catholic  Apostolic,  the  nation  will  protect  it  by  wise  and 
fust  laws  and  prohibit  the  exercise  of  any  other 

WHATEVER." 

The  constitution  was  not  adopted  without  consider- 
able opposition.  Among  the  newly  enfranchised  citi- 
zens there  were  very  few  who  had  ever  held  civil  office, 
and  the  majority  were  entirely  unread  as  to  systems 
of  government.  The  policy  of  keeping  the  people  in 
ignorance  of  all  literature   except   the   catechism    and 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

prayers  in  Latin,  which  had  obtained  in  Mexico  for 
three  .centuries,  had  utterly  disqualified  them  for  affairs 
of  state;  and  when  suddenly  enfranchised  and  rendered 
eligible  to  the  high  duty  of  deciding  upon  a  national 
system  they  were  in  a  condition  to  be  wrongly  in- 
fluence 1,  and  to  many  the  possession  of  liberty  meant 
the  right  of  license,  libertinism  and  anarchy. 

From  a  comparison  of  the   history  of   Mexico  with 

that  of  the  United  States,  after  whose  organic  laws  and 

policies   Mexico  patterned,  may   be  taught  one   of  the 

most  valuable  lessons  illustrated  by  history.     Although 

Mexico  was  settled  nearly  a  century  before  the  United 

States  yet  the  latter  had  gone  through  all  the  hardships 

and  trials  of  colonial  existence,  steadily  progressed  in 

ral  knowledge  and  the  growth  of  liberal  principles 

had  n    their   vassalage  and  firmly   established 

their  independence,  while  Mexico  was  still  groping  in 

spiritual  and  intellectual  darkness   without  being  fully 

of  her  slavitude. 

When  the  United  States  declared  her  independence 

it  was  the  deliberate  result  of  a  united   and  intelligent 

people,   smarting    under   accumulated    wrongs,  rightly 

appreciating  the  value  of   freedom   and  with   prudent 

-•lit    calmly    weighing    the    cost  of   obtaining    it. 

Winn  oner  obtained  the  virtue,  intelligence  and  patriot- 

:  the  people  were  sufficient  to  preserve  it  and  to 

linst  all  attempts  at  its  subversion. 

!n   M  the   first  resistance  to  Spanish  tyranny 

but  a*  sudden  and  isolated  movement  of  a  few  in- 

i    with    no    great    number     fully    grasping    the 

"f  freedom,  and  the  masses  of  the  igno- 

i"'i  who  joined  in  tin-  insurrection  were  in- 

•  higher  motives  than   those  of  plunder 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  95 

and  revenge.  A  declaration  of  independence  found  the 
people  disunited,  ignorant  of  the  nature  and  extent  of 
the  evils  which  they  were  suffering,  unaware  of  their 
own  resources  and  ready  to  follow  blindly  wherever 
their  chiefs  led  them. 

When  independence  was  at  length  established  it 
was  merely  for  one  despotism  to  give  place  to  another, 
and  a  monarchy  arose  which  was  but  the  agent  of  the 
ecclesiastics  and  aristocrats  to  still  further  usurp  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  The  sudden  overthrow  of  the 
empire  of  Iturbide  made  place  for  another  system  of 
government  which,  while  republican  in  form  and  fair 
and  comely  in  proportions,  yet  contained  one  of  the 
most  odious  features  of  despotism.  It  contained  among 
its  provisions  the  law  that  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
should  be  adopted  to  the  exclusion  of  any  other  what- 
ever. 

A  principle  more  illiberal  and  unrepublican  could 
not  have  been  imagined,  and  where  it  prevails  the  idea 
and  fact  of  a  free  government  is  an  absurdity.  Of  all 
tyranny  that  which  is  exerted  over  the  consciences  of 
the  superstitious  and  ignorant  is  the  most  balefal  in  its 
effects.  It  not  only  renders  its  subjects  more  than  will- 
ing slaves  and  makes  them  glory  in  their  bondage,  but 
it  incapacitates  them  for  appreciating  or  enjoying  the 
blessings  of  liberty  when  offered  them. 

As  Mion  as  proper  after  the  independence  of  Mexico 
hail  been  secured,  and  while  it  was  yet  an  empire  under 
Iturbide  the  United  .States  recognized  it  as  an  inde- 
pendent nation  and  sent  Mr.  Poinsett  as  minister  t<>  the 
new  government. 

He  remained  in  the  same  capacity  during  the 
changes  which  resulted   in   the   adoption  of  a  coustitu- 


96  'HIS 7  OR  V  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

tion  making  Mexico  a  republic  with  a  federal  repre- 
sentative system.  To  his  opportune  aid  cheerfully 
given  the  friends  of  the  republic  owed  much.  By  it 
they  were  enabled  to  combat  successfully  all  attempts 
to  guide  the  new  ship  of  state  into  the  perilous  waters 
of  experiment;  and  she  emerged  from  the  hands  of  the 
constitutional  convention  under  full  sail,  flying  the 
colors  of    a   republic    under   a    federal    representative 

.:n,  directed  tfrfier  moorings  by  the  hands  of  loyal 
and  patriotic  citizens  of  the  new  nation,  who  had  fought 
for  independence  from  the  first  time  that  the  Grita  de 
es  was  sounded  on  the  plains  of   Mexico  or  rever- 
berated among  the  mountains. 

With  the  independence  of  Mexico  the  Bourbonists 
ceased  to  exist  as  a  separate  political  party,  while  the 
:  ill  of  Iturbide  destroyed  the  political  organization  of 
which  he  was  the  head  and  so  the  Republicans  had  full 
control  of  affairs;  but  they  were  divided  into  two  fac- 
tions with  decidedly  distinct  policies.  One  was  for 
federalism  and  the  other  for  centralism. 

In  the  election  which  was  held  under  the  newly 
adopted  constitution,  Guadalupe  Victoria  was  the  candi- 
date  of  the  federalists,  while  Nicholas  Bravo  stood  for 
centralism.  The  canvass  of  the  vote  showed  that  Vic- 
toria had  been  elected  president  and  Bravo  vice  presi- • 
dent,  thus  embodying  the  two  antagonistic  policies  of 
the  party  in  the  first  administration  of  the  republic. 
The  president  and  vice  president  wen-  both  inaugurated 
on  the  jtli  ot  ( October,  [824,  for  the  official  term  of  four 

The  administration  of   Victoria  commenced  under 

the  most  happ)  and  promising  auspices.     The  republic 

"1  '•■  Wished  in  peace;  partisan  excitement  had 


FROM  COR7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  97 

been  allayed;  no  one  questioned  the  authority  of  the 
president,  and  a  loan  negotiated  in  England  had  pro- 
vided funds  for  the  treasury  of  the  nation. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  very  promising  con- 
ditions there  soou  appeared  signs  of  commotion.  During 
the  year  1825  certain  political  clubs  were  formed  under 
the  name  and  with  the  formulas  of  Free  Masonry. 
Some  were  organized  under  the  alleged  guidance  of  the 
United  States  minister,  Poinsett,  and  were  known  as 
Yorkinos.  These  became  the  nuclus  of  the  federalists, 
and  in  that  party  the  Iturbidists  and  Democrats  gener- 
ally found  a  political  home.  Others  were  organized 
under  the  Scottish  rites  and  were  called  escoces,  and 
represented  centralism;  and  all  Bourbons,  monarchists 
and  the  clergy  here  found  political  affiliations. 

The  years  1825  and  1826  passed  with  few  disturb- 
ances and  the  administration  of  Victoria  was  generally 
popular,  and  the  country  enjoyed  a  greater  degree  of 
prosperity  than  at  any  former  period.  But  the  con- 
stituent elements  which  formed  the  nation  were  so 
various,  so  uncongenial  and  so  antagonistic  that  con- 
tinued peace  could  hardly  be  expected. 

The  first  attempt  at  revolution  came  from  the 
Church,  was  headed  by  a  domiuican  friar  named  Padre 
Arenas,  and  was  designed  to  restore  Spanish  rule. 
This  was  suppressed,  its  leaders  properly  punished 
and.  rigorous  measures  adopted  to  expel  all  Spaniards 
from  the  country. 

The  second  attempted  revolution  was  headed  by 
Montano,  a:i  unknown  lieutenant  colonel,  at  Otumba. 
On  the  23d  of  December,  1827,  he  proclaimed  a  plan  for 
the  forcible  reform  of  the  government.  He  demanded 
the  abolition  of  all  secret  societies,  the  dismissal  of  the 


9S  HIS'IORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS,  ' 

cabinet  ministers,  who  were  charged  with  being  deficient 
in  probity,  virtue  and  merit;  the  dismissal  of  Mr.  Poin- 
sett, who  was  held  to  be  the  chief  director  of  the 
Vorkinos,  and  a  more  rigorous  enforcement  of  the  con- 
stitution and  existing  laws. 

The  plan  of  Montano  was  immediately  declared  by 
the  Yorkinos  to  have  for  its  object  "to  prevent  the 
banishment  of  the  Spaniards,  to  avert  the  chastisement 
then  impending  over  the  conspirators  against  independ- 
ence, to  destroy  Republican  institutions  and  place  the 
country  once  more  under  the  yoke  of  a  Bourbon!" 

General  Bravo,  the  vice  president  and  the  leader  of 
the  Scotch  party,  who  had  heretofore  been  the  advocate 
of  law  and  order,  left  the  capital,  made  common  cause 
with  the  insurgents  and  issued  a  manifesto  in  favor  of 
Montano,  in  which  he  denounced  the  president  himself 
as  connected  with  the  Yorkinos. 

Bythis  rash  movement  of  Bravo's  the  president  was 
compelled  to  throw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  Yorki- 
nos,  to  whose  chief,  General  Guerrero,  he  gave  the 
command  of  the  government  troops  that  were  sent  to 
put  <lo\vn  the  insurrection.  The  outbreak  was  speedily 
suppressed.  General  Bravo,  who  was  really  at  the  head 
of  the  movement,  which  was  for  political  effect,  would 
ii'it  allow  a  conflict  it  arms;  and,  on  the  approach  of 
Guerrero,  surrendered.  He  and  the  principal  leaders 
banished  the  country  by  a  decree  of  congress, 
but    afterward   they  were  permitted  to  return  to  their 

llMlll 

The  leaders  of  the  Scotch  party  being  removed,  it 

thoughl   ih.it  in  the  ensuing   presidential  election, 

September,  r  »8,  the  success  oi  General  Guerrero,  the 

iuo  candidate,  was  rendered  certain.     But  unex- 


fpo.v  coin  r.  z  to  dtaz.  9$ 

pectedly  a  new  candidate  was  brought  forward  in  the 
person  of  General  Pedra/.a.  who  was  Victoria's  minister 
of  war.  He,  after  an  arduous  contest,  was  elected  presi- 
dent by  a  majority  of  only  two  votes  over  General 
Guerrero. 

The  successful  party,  relying  upon  their  constitu- 
tional rights  and  the  sympathies  of  the  friends  of  Vic- 
toria, looked  forward  to  a  peaceful  administration  to 
follow  the  election.  But  the  opposition  was  unwilling 
to  bow  submissively  to  the  will  of  the  people  expressed 
in  accord  with  the  constitution.  They  asserted  that  the 
election  had  been  carried  by  fraud  and  bribery,  that 
Pedraza  was  the  enemy  of  the  liberties  of  the  country, 
and  they  declared  their  determination  to  redress  by  an 
appeal  to  arms  the  injustice  sustained  by  General  Guer- 
rero, upon  whose  elevation  to  the  presidency  the  as- 
cendency of  the  Yorkino  party  naturally  depended. 

At  this  juncture  Santa  Anna,  whose  name  had 
figured  in  the  most  turbulent  periods  of  the  revolution 
since  1S21,  again  appeared  upon  the  political  stage; 
claiming  that  the  result  of  the  election  did  not  show  the 
real  will  of  the  people,  he  at  the  head  of  500  men  took 
possession  of  the  castle  of  Perote.  There  on  September 
10th  he  published  an  address  declaring  that  the  election 
of  Pedraza  had  been  procured  by  fraud,  and  that  he  had 
taken  it  upon  himself  to  rectify  the  error  by  proclaiming 
Guerrero  president,  as  the  only  effectual  mode  of  main- 
taining the  character  and  asserting  the  dignity  of  the 
Mexican  nation. 

On  September  17th  President  Victoria  issued  a  proc- 
lamation, calling  on  the  states  and  the  people  co  aid  in 
arresting  the  traitor  to  the  laws  and  the  constitution. 
Santa    Anna    was    besieged    at    Perote,  an    action   was 


ioo  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

fought  under  the  walls  of  the  castle.  Santa  Anna 
escaped,  was  pursued  and  captured  on  the  14th  of  De- 
cember. But  before  that  time,  changes  of  public  senti- 
ment had  taken  place  at  the  capital:  and  the  captive 
general   in   the  course  of  twenty-four  hours  took  com- 


VICTORIA. 


land  ol   the  wry  army  by  which   he  had  been  taken 
uer. 

About  the  time  of  the  flight  of  Santa  Anna  from 

•  the  capital  became  the  rallying  place  for  a  num- 

•  the  more  ultra  of  the  Yorkino  chiefs  and  ambi- 

I         and  adventurous  insurrectionists.    On  the  night  of 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DTAZ.  ior 

November  30th  an  armed  mob  seized  the  barracks'  guns 
and  ammunition,  and  began  a  reign  of  terror,  wherein 
law  and  order  was  defied  and  millions  of  dollars  worth 
of  property  was  taken  by  pillage  and  violence.  While 
thus  despoiling  citizens  indiscriminately  the  mob  made 
demands  for  the  banishment  of  all  Spanish  residents, 
and  *at  the  same  time  they  proclaimed  that  Guerrero 
had  been  elected  president,  and  that  he  should  take  his 
office. 

Victoria  was  unable  to  restore  order,  and  in  the  ab- 
sence of  energetic  action  he  was  charged  by  many  with 
being  in  sympathy  with  the  insurrection.  These  lawless 
acts  remained  unchecked  for  two  days,  when  order  was 
restored  by  Guerrero  himself,  whom  Victoria  appointed 
minister  of  war  in  place  of  Pedraza,  who  had  fled  from 
the  capital. 

To  avoid  civil  war  and  the  effusion  of  blood  Ped- 
raza, disregarding  the  proffered  assistance  of  his  adher- 
ents, formally  resigned  the  presidency  and  obtained 
permission  to  quit  the  territories  of  the  republic.  Con- 
gress, which  met  on  the  1st  of  January,  1829,  declared 
Guerrero  to  be  duly  elected  president,  having  next  to 
Pedraza  the  highest  number  of  votes.  General  Busta- 
mente,  a  distinguished  Yorkino  leader,  was  made  vice- 
president;  a  Yorkino  ministry  was  appointed;  and  Santa 
Anna,  who  was  declared  to  have  deserved  well  of  his 
country,  was  appointed  minister  of  war. 

As  Guerrero  had  been  installed  by  arms,  it  was 
natural  that  he  should  trust  to  the  same  agency  for  a 
continuance  of  power.  But  the  ease  with  which  a  revo- 
lution could  be  effected  and  the  supreme  authority  over- 
thrown by  a  bold  and  daring  leader  had  been  demon- 
strated too  fatally  for  the  future  peace  of  the  country. 


io2  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

and  ambitious  chiefs  were  not  long  wanting  to  take  ad- 
vantage thereof. 

The  Spaniards  had  rendered  themselves  obnoxious 
to  the  people  who  had  control  in  Mexico  by  their  hostil- 
ity to  the  new  order  of  things.  So  congress  decreed  in 
March,  1829,  that  they  should  be  expelled  from  the 
country,  and  in  compliance  therewith  many  were  de- 
ported.  To  retaliate  for  this  action  and  to  regain  the 
lost  province  in  America,  a  squadron  of  Spanish  troops 
was  sent  from  Havana;  and  in  July,  1S29,  about  4,000 
men  landed  at  Tampico  and  captured  that  city. 

To  meet  the  emergencies  of  the  times  Guerrero  was 
invested  with  dictatorial  powers.  After  a  campaign  of 
two  months  the  invading  army  surrendered  to  Santa 
Anna.  Though  the  danger  was  past  Guerrero  did  not 
surrender  his  extraordinary  powers,  and  his  enemies  as- 
sumed that  he  had  the  intention  to  prolong  his  dictator- 
ship indefinitely. 

Bustamente,  the  vice-president,  then  in  command 
ol  a  body  of  troops,  held  in  reserve  to  repel  the  Span- 
iards, deemed  this  a  favorable  opportunity  for  striking  a 
blow  for  supremacy.  Charging  Guerrero  with  the  de- 
sire of  assuming  arbitrary  power  and  demanding  con- 
ins,  he  proceeded  toward  the  capital  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  correcting  executive  abuses.  Santa  Anna, 
the  minister  6f  war,  at  first  feebly  opposed  Bustamente, 
but  at  length  joined  him.  The  government  was  easily 
thrown.  Guerrero  fled  to  the  mountains  in  the 
south,  and  Bustamente  was  proclaimed  his  successor. 

•   had   the   misfortune  to  have  been  of  very 

nd  humble  parentage.     His  father  was  of  a  race 

'  denominated    castes,  who  was  entitled  to  neither 

nor  political    rights.      But  in  the  war  of  independ- 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  103 

ence  Guerrero  had  risen  to  prominence  and  high  rank, 
and  in  conjunction  with  Iturbide  had  secured  the  inde- 
pendence of  Mexico.  He  was  one  of  the  four  entrusted 
with  the  government  when  Iturbide  resigned  the  impe- 
rial crown,  and  had  held  high  rank  and  responsible 
command  in  the  army  of  the  republic.  In  each  and  all 
of  these  positions  he  had  acquitted  himself  with  honor; 
and  as  president  had  firmly  sustained  the  principles  of 
liberty. 

But  his  humble  origin  secured  opposition  from  the 
Spaniards  and  wealthy  Creoles,  while  his  republicanism 
assured  the  hatred  of  the  clergy.  In  Bustamente  these 
opposing  elements  found  a  willing  ally,  and  congress 
was  influenced  to  co-operate  in  deposing  the  president. 
But  the  question  was,  what  to  do.  They  had  no  power 
to  declare  his  election  illegal,  for  that  would  affect  also 
the  right  of  the  vice-president.  So  congress  declared 
that  Guerrero  was  morally  incapacitated  for  the  high 
duties  of  the  office,  on  its  own  motion  deposed  him 
therefrom,  and  elevated  the  vice-president,  Bustamente. 

The  leading  features  of  Bustamente's  administra- 
tion, which  was  sanguinary  and  prescriptive,  was  the 
subversion  of  the  federal  constitution  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  strong  central  government.  He  was  supported 
by  the  military,  the  priesthood  and  the  great  creole  pro- 
prietors, while  the  federation  was  popular  with  a  ma- 
jority of  the  people,  and  was  sustained  by  their  votes. 

Guerrero  retired  to  his  farm  in  the  mountains  of  the 
south,  glad  to  be  relieved  of  the  cares,  excitements  and 
hazards  of  his  office.  But  he  was  popular  with  the  peo- 
ple, who  were  pronounced  in  their  denunciation  of  the 
outrage  perpetrated  upon  him,  and  traced  the  hostility 
to  his  administration  to  the  aristocrats  and  the   clergy. 


104 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 


Fearing  the  results  of  a  proposed  revolution  in  behalf  of 
Guerrero  the  administration  pardoned  six  criminals, 
laying  upon  them  the  duty  of  assassinating  the  deposed 
president  as  the  condition  of  their  release.  This  new 
danger  soon  became  known  to  Guerrero,  and  he  sought 
salety  in  the  solitudes  of  the  mountains. 


'•I'KRRRRO. 


In  the  Bpring  of  [830  Don  Jose  Codallos  published 

"  demanding  of  Bustamente  the  restoration  of 

uthority.      Encouraged    by   this   demonstration 

red  in  the  field,  established  his  govern- 

t  Valladolid;  and  the  whole  country  was  again  in 


FROM  COR'lEZ  TO  DIAZ.  :os 

arms.  The  attempt  of  Guerrero  to  regain  supreme 
power  was  unsuccessful.  He  was  pursued  to  Acapulco 
and  there,  while  being  entertained  at  a  complimentary 
dinner  on  board  a  Sardinian  ship,  he  was  arrested,  the 
captain  of  the  vessel  traitorously  performing  his  part  of 
the  capture  for  the  consideration  of  $70,000,  paid  by  the 
centralists.  After  capture  Guerrero  was  hurriedly  taken 
to  Oaxaca,  tried  by  a  court  martial,  condemned  to  death 
for  "traitorously  bearing  arms  against  the  govern- 
ment;" and  on  the  14th  of  February,  1831,  he  was  exe- 
cuted by  being  shot;  meeting  his  fate  with  courage  and 
dignity. 

Thus  a  singular  coincidence  is  presented  in  the  fate 
of  Guerrero  and  Iturbide.  Though  they  differed  essen- 
tially in  their  motives  originally,  they  finally  joined  in 
the  campaign  which  resulted  in  the  liberty  of  Mexico. 
But  both  perished  at  the  hands  of  the  very  government 
whose  existence  they  had  made  possible.  The  remains 
of  Guerrero  now  rest  in  the  Panteon  de  San  Fernando 
in  the  capital;  and  his  honored  statue  of  bronze  adorns 
the  plaza  of  San  Fernando,  as  a  testimony  that  the 
Mexican  people  gratefully  cherish  the  memory  of  that 
true  patriot  and  friend  of  their  liberties,  and  as  a  stand- 
ing censure  upon  the  bloody  traitors  from  the  clerical 
centralist  party  who  put  him  to  death. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


1 83 1  TO  1844. 

Santa  Anna  Revolts — Bustamente  Resigns — Ped- 
raza  President — Santa  Anna  President — 
Dictatorial  Schemes — Gomez  Farias  Acting 
President — Church  and  Army  Limited — Santa 
Anna  Joins  Centralists — Proclaimed  Dictator 
— Overthrows  State  Governments  and  the 
Constitution — Texas    Revolts — Santa    Anna 

I  IKI-I.ATED  AND  CAPTURED  BY  THE  TEXANS — Inde- 
pendence and  Limits  of  Texas — Santa  Anna 
en  Private  Life — Bustamente  President — 
Santa  Axxa  Fights  the  French — Revolutions 
I'.'  stamente  Overthrown — Plans — Juntas — 
Bases — Santa  Anna  Again  in  Politics. 

AFTER  the  execution  of  Guerrero  tranquility  pre- 
vailed   in    political    affairs   until   January,   1832, 
when  Santa  Anna,  pretending  alarm  at  the  arbi- 
es  of    Bustamente,  placed    himself  at  the 
head  of  the  garrison  of   Vera  Cruz  and   demanded  the 
anization  of  the   ministry  as  a  pretext  for  revolt. 
He  then   declared  himself  in  favor  of  the  restoration  of 
■  ■nstitutH.il  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws.     The 
ends  ol  liberty  and    \i  thi    Democratic  federal  system 
d  to  his  support.      Bustamente  in  person  took  the 


FROM  C0R1EZ  TO  DIAZ. 


107 


field  in  command  of  the  army  operating  against  the  in- 
surgents, and  after  a  struggle  which  lasted  nearly  a 
year,  proposed  an  armistice  to  Santa  Anna. 

This  was  accepted,  and  in  the  conference  which  re- 
sulted it  was  agreed  that  Bustamente  should  resign  in 
favor  of  Pedra/.a,  who  had  been  elected  in  1828;  that 
hostilities  should  cease  and  that  the  armies  of  both 
factions  should  unite  in  support  of  the  president  and  cf 
the  federal  constitution  in  its  original  form  and  design. 

Santa  Anna  dispatched  a  vessel  for  the  exiled 
Pedraza,  brought  him  back  to  the  republic  and  sent  him 
to  the  capital  to  serve  out  the  remaining  three  months 
of  his  unexpired  term,  he  being  installed  December 
26,  1832. 

In  the  meantime  and  while  Bustamente  was  in  the 
field  the  presidential  office  was  occupied  by  General 
Melchor  Muzquiz,  who  was  appointed  thereto  by 
congress. 

Upon  his  accession  to  power  Pedraza  delivered  to 
congress  an  elaborate  address  reviewing  the  events  of 
the  preceding  four  years  and  passing  an  extravagant 
eulogium  upon  Santa  Anna,  his  early  foe  but  recent 
friend,  and  referred  to  him  as  his  destined  successor. 

In  the  election  which  followed  Santa  Anna  was 
chosen  president  and  Gomez  Farias  vice  president.  On 
the  15th  of  May  the  new  president  entered  the  capital, 
and  on  the  following  day  assumed  the  duties  of  his 
office.  On  the  first  day  of  June  General  Duran  pro- 
mulgated a  plan  at  San  Augustin,  twelve  miles  south  of 
the  capital,  in  favor  of  the  Church  and  the  army,  at  the 
same  time  proclaiming  Santa  Anna  supreme  dictator  of 
the  Mexican  nation. 

Although   it  was  believed  that  the  president    had 


10S  HIST  OR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

secretly  instigated  this  movement,  yet  he  raised  a  large 
force,  appointed  Arista  his  second  in  command  and  left 
the  capital  with  the  avowed  intention  of  suppressing  the 
revolt.  The  troops  had  not  proceeded  far  when  Arista 
suddenly  declared  in  favor  of  the  plan  of  Duran,  at  the 
same  time  securing  the  president's  person  and  proclaim- 
ing him  dictator.  When  the  news  of  this  movement 
reached  the  military  in  the  capital  they  announced 
themselves  in  its  favor  with  shouts  of  "Santa  Anna  for 
dictator?" 

The  vice  president  distrusting  the  sincerity  of  Santa 
Anna,  and  believing  that  he  was  employing  a  stratagem 
to  test  the  probability  of  success  in  his  ulterior  aim  at 
absolute  power,  rallied  the  federalists  against  the 
soldiery  and  defeated  the  ingenious  scheme  of  the 
president  and  his  allies.  Affecting  to  make  his  escape 
Santa  Anna  returned  to  the  city,  and  having  raised 
.mother  force  pursued  the  insurgents,  whom  he  com- 
pelled to  surrender.  Arista  was  pardoned,  Duran  ban- 
ished,  and  the  victorious  president  returned  to  the 
capital,  where  he  was  hailed  as  the  champion  of  the 
federal  constitution  and  the  father  of  his  country. 

Soon  after  Santa  Anna  retired  to  his  estate  in  the 
country  and  the  executive  authority  devolved  upon 
Farias,  the  vice  president.  This  distinguished  patriot 
of  Mexico  deserves  special  mention,  and  the  following 
is  taken  from  the' 'Historiade  Mexico,"  by  the  History 
□  I  incisco,  California,  as  a  partial  testimony 
of  his  work  and  worth: 

5,  the  champion  of  reform  in  Mexico, 

was  born  in  Guadalajara,  where  he  received  his  diploma 

■  '•  au  1  afterwards  had  considerable  patronage 

i   was  in  good    circumstances.     Democratic  to 


FROM  COR'lEZ  70  DIAZ.  109 

the  heart  he  was  always  the  champion  of  progress.  He 
eared  little  or  nothing  for  riches  or  honor,  but  was 
always  anxious  to  serve  his  country  without  any  com- 
pensation but  the  good  opinion  of  the  people. 

"His  period  was  of  short  duration,  though  rough 
and  perilous,  and  in  it  many  events  occurred  of  the 
greatest  importance.  The  privileged  classes  received 
many  rude  blows  from  the  hand  of  Farias,  who  always 
claimed  that  the  civil  authority  should  be  above  the 
military.  He  tried  to  abolish  the  right  and  habit  of  ch2 
ecclesiastics  to  interfere  in  secular  affairs. 

"When  left  to  bear  the  burden  of  state  at  such  trving 
times,  he  commenced  the  work  of  reform  in  a  university 
of  which  he  was  the  principal,  by  excluding  the  clergy 
from  teaching  therein;  and  he  extended  the  same  rule 
to  all  educational  institutions  which  had  support  from 
the  government.  He  abolished  the  system  of  taxes 
levied  for  the  support  of  church-schools  and  other  eccle- 
siastical institutions,  and  restrained  the  courts  from 
enforcing  by  civil  law  the  binding  force  of  monastic 
vows,  and  thus  left  members  of  religious  orders  free  to 
abandon  their  institutions. 

"He  also  expelled  refugee  monks  who  had  flocked 
to  Mexico  on  their  expulsion  from  Central  America  and 
Guatamala.  These  measures  of  reform  in  which  two  of 
the  most  powerful  classes  of  society  were  affected,  pro- 
duced great  agitation.  The  importance  of  the  issues 
alarmed  the  clergy,  who  immediately  took  the  defensive 
fomented  their  pronunciamientos,  intrigued  with  the 
functionaries  and  with  the  ignorant  populace." 

The  clergy  and  the  army  being  thus  interested  in 
opposing  Farias,  signs  of  revolution  appeared  in  different 
parts  of  the  country,  and  the  friends  of  Farias  charge 


no  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

that  he  was  too  timid  to  meet  the  revolution,  that  he 
should  have  convened  congress  aud  organized  a  national 
guard,  but  he  failed  to  take  any  action. 

Santa  Anna,  who  had  been  closely  watching  events, 
deemed  the  occasion  favorable  to  the  success  of  his 
ambitious  schemes,  returned  to  the  capital,  resumed  his 
duties  as  chief  executive;  and,  having  been  proclaimed 
dictator  by  the  army,  he  deserted  the  federal  Republican 
party  and  system,  espoused  the  cause  and  assumed  the 
direction  of  his  former  antagonists,  the  centralists.  On 
the  13th  day  of  May,  1834,  the  constitutional  congress 
and  the  council  of  government  were  dissolved  by  a 
military  order  of  the  president  and  a  new  revolutionary 
and  unconstitutional  congress  was  summoned  by  another 
military  order.  Until  the  new  congress  assembled  the 
authority  of  the  entire  government  remained  in  the 
hands  of  Santa  Anna,  who  covertly  used  his  power  and 
influence  to  destroy  the  constitution  he  had  sworn  to 
defend. 

The  states  of  the  federation  were  more  or  less  agi- 
tated by  these  arbitrary  proceedings.  When  the  new 
assembled  in  January,  1835,  petitions  and 
declarations  in  favor  of  a  central  government  were 
poured  in  by  the  military  and  the  clergy,  while  protests 
and  remonstrances  on  behalf  of  the  federal  constitution 

presented  by  some  of  the  state  legislatures  and  the 

people.     The    latter   were   disregarded    and  their  sup- 

:uted    and    imprisoned,  while  the  former 

.-das  the  voice  of   the  nation  and  a  corrupt, 

acted  accordingly. 

The   \!..-   president,  Gomez    Farias,  was  deposed 

without  impeachment  or  trial  and   General    Barragan,  a 

leading  <  entralist,  was  appointed  in  his  place. 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  in 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  cr  ngress  was  a  decree  for  re- 
ducing and  disarming  the  militia  of  the  several  states. 
The  opinion  that  congress  had  the  power  to  change  the 
constitution  at  pleasure  was  openly  avowed,  and  every 
step  taken  evinced  a  settled  purpose  to  establish  a 
strong  central  government  on  the  ruins  of  the  federal 
system.  The  state  of  Zacatecas  refused  to  disband  its 
militia  and  resorted  to  arms  to  resist  the  overthrow  of 
federalism. 

Santa  Anna  marched  against  the  insurgents  in  May, 
and  after  an  engagement  of  two  hours  defeated  them  at 
Guadalupe.  The  city  of  Zacatecas  soon  surrendered 
and  all  resistance  in  the  state  was  overcome.  A  few 
days  after  the  fall  of  Zacatecas,  the  "Plan  of  Toluca" 
was  published,  changing  the  federal  system  into  a 
central  government,  abolishing  the  legislatures  of  the 
states  and  changing  the  states  into  departments  under 
control  of  military  commandants  who  were  to  be  re- 
sponsible to  the  chief  authorities  of  the  nation — the 
latter  to  be  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  one  individual 
whose  will  was  law. 

This  "plan,"  generally  supposed  to  have  originated 
with  Santa  Anna  himself,  was  adopted  by  congress,  and 
on  the  3d  of  October  following,  General  Barragan,  the 
acting  president,  issued  a  decree  in  the  name  of  con- 
gress abolishing  the  federal  system  and  establishing  a 
"Central  Republic."  This  form  of  government  was 
formally  adopted  in  1833  by  a  convention  of  delegates 
appointed  for  that  purpose. 

Several  of  the  Mexican  states  protested  against  this 
assumption  of  power  on  the  part  of  congress,  and 
avowed  their  determination  to  take  up  arms  against  the 
ecclesiastical  and  military  despotism,  which  was  despoil- 


H2  HIS!  ORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

ing  them  of  their  rights  as  free-men,  and  to  reestablish 
the  constitution  of  1824.  They  were  all,  however,  with 
the  exception  of  Texas,  speedily  reduced  by  the  arms  of 
Santa  Anna,  who  exercised  the  dual  office  of  president 
and  commander  of  the  army,  leaving  the  vice-president 
nominally  in  the  executive  chair. 

Texas  destitute  of  numerical  strength,  regular  troops 
and  pecuniary  resources,  was  left  to  contend  single- 
handed  and  alone  for  her  guaranteed  rights  against  the 
whole  power  of  the  general  government,  wielded  by  a 
man  who  hitherto  had  had  uninterrupted  military  success, 
and  who  delighted  in  styling  himself  "the  Napoleon  of 
the  west." 

The  Texaus  had  been  uniformly  successful  in 
several  skirmishes  in  the  fall  of  1835,  and  had  captured 
San  Antonio  from  general  Cos,  who  with  his  army  had 
capitulated  and  surrendered  the  famous  Alamo.  The 
cit izens  of  Texas  had  also  assembled  in  convention  at 
San  Felipe  and  had  published  a  manifesto,  in  which 
they  declared  themselves  not  bound  to  support  the  ex- 
isting government  of  Mexico,  and  proffered  their  assist- 
ance  to  such  states  of  the  Mexican  confedracy  as  would 
take  up  arms  in  defense  and  support  of  their  rights  as 
guaranteed  by  the  constitution  of  1824. 

Santa  Anna  alarmed   by  these  acts  of  resistance  to 
his  authority,  and  astonished  at  the  military  spirit  ex- 
hibited  by  the   Texans,    resolved   to  strike   a  decisive 
dnst  that  rebellious  province.    Therefore  he  set 
out  on  the   1st  of  February,  [836,  from  Saltillo  for  the 
(  rrande,  where  an  army  of  8,000  men,  composed  of 
the  be  I  troops  ol  Mexico,  was  assembling  for  the  inva- 
'"i  "t  T<      1 ;.    ( )n  the  1  2th  he  reached  the  Rio  Grande, 


FROM  C0R1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  113 

and  on  the  23d  arrived  at  San  Antonio  de  Bexar,  where 
his  whole  army  was  concentrated. 

San  Antonio  was  held  by  a  small  garrison  of 
Texans,  who  were  soon  defeated  and  the  garrison  pnt  to 
the  sword.  Desperate  encounters  followed  in  various 
places,  but  the  vast  superiority  of  the  invading  army 
gave  the  victory  to  Santa  Anna,  who  disgraced  his  name 
by  the  remorseless  cruelties  of  which  he  was  guilty. 

His  hopes  of  conquest,  however,  were  in  the  end 
disappointed;  for  as  he  was  about  to  withdraw  his 
armies  in  the  belief  that  the  province  was  subdued  he 
met  with  an  unexpected  and  humiliating  defeat.  He 
had  already  advanced  to  the  San  Jacinto,  a  stream  which 
enters  the  head  of  Galveston  bay,  when  on  the  21st  of 
April,  1836,  he  was  attacked  in  camp,  where  he  was  in 
command  of  more  than  1,600  men,  by  a  Texan  force  of 
only  783  men,  commanded  by  General  Houston.  Al- 
though Santa  Anna  was  prepared  for  the  attack,  so 
vigorous  was  the  onset  that  in  twenty  minutes  the  camp 
wras  carried.  630  of  the  Mexicans  were  killed,  more 
than  200  were  wounded,  and  730  taken  prisoners. 
Among  the  latter  was  Santa  Anna  himself.  Of  the 
Texans  only  eight  were  killed  and  seventeen  wounded. 

Although  a  majority  of  the  Texas  troops  demanded 
the  execution  of  Santa  Anna,  as  the  murderer  of  many 
of  their  countrymen  who  had  been  taken  prisoners,  yet 
his  life  was  spared  by  the  extraordinary  firmness  of 
General  Houston  and  his  officers;  and  a  treaty  was  con- 
cluded with  him  by  which  the  entire  Mexican  force  was 
withdrawn  from  the  state  of  Texas,  the  independence  of 
the  state  acknowledged,  and  the  boundry  fixed  as  the 
Rio  Grande. 

Santa   Anna    returned   to    Mexico   by  way  of  the 


1 14  HIS  TOR  I '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

United  States,  having  been  sent  to  Washington  on  a  di- 
plomatic mission;  and  being  furnished  by  President 
Jackson  with  a  ship  of  war  he  was  conveyed  to  Vera 
Cruz,  where  he  arrived  on  the  20th  of  February,  1837, 
ten  months  after  his  capture  by  General  Houston.  He 
immediately  addressed  a  letter  to  the  minister  of  war, 
wherein  he  disavowed  all  treaties  and  stipulations.  On 
reaching  Mexico  Santa  Anna  retired  to  his  hacienda, 
and  remained  in  obscurity  for  nearly  two  years. 

On  the  departure  of  Santa  Anna  from  the  capital 
for  the  conquest  of  Texas,  his  authority  had  devolved 
on  General  Barragan  as  vice-president,  who  having  died 
in  February,  1836,  Don  Jose  Justo  Carro  was  appointed 
in  his  place,  who  held  the  office  until  the  19th  of  April 
following. 

At  the  next  election  Bustamente  was  chosen  presi- 
dent, he  having  recently  returned  from  France,  where 
he  had  resided  since  his  defeat  by  Santa  Anna  in  1832. 
His  administration  was  soon  disturbed  by  declarations 
for  Gomez  Farias  for  the  presidency  and  for  federation. 
But  the  disturbances  were  quelled  with  little  difficulty. 

In  [838  General  Mexia  a  second  time  raised  the 
standard  of  revolt  against  the  central  government.  Ad- 
vancing towards  the  capital  with  a  brave  band  of  patri- 
ots he  was  met  near  Puebla  by  Santa  Anna,  who  creep- 
ing forth  from  his  retreat  to  regain  popularity  by  some 
striking  exploit,  was  weakly  trusted  by  Bustamente 
witli  the  command  of  the  government  troops.  Mexia 
lost  the  day,  was  taken  prisoner,  and  with  scarcely  time 
left  for  prayer  or  communication  with  his  family,  was 
by  ordei  of  his  conquerer  on  the  field  of  battle. 
n  Santa  Anna  announced  his  doom  to  be  death 
within  three  hours,  Mexiasaid:  "Youare right.  I  would 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  115 

not  have  granted  you  one-half  the  time  had  I  con. 
quered." 

On  March  31st  a  French  fleet  appeared  on  the 
Mexican  coast,  demanding  reparation  for  damages 
sustained  in  the  plundering  of  French  citizens,  and  the 
destruction  of  property  by  contending  factions,  and  for 
loans  collected  by  violence.  The  rejection  of  the  demand 
was  followed  by  a  blockade;  and  in  the  winter  following 
the  city  of  Vera  Cruz  was  attacked  by  French  troops. 
An  opportunity  being  offered  to  Santa  Anna  to  repair 
his  tarnished  reputation  and  regain  his  standing  with  the 
army,  he  proceeded  to  the  port,  took  command  of  the 
troops;  and  while  following  the  French  when  reembark- 
ing  one  of  his  legs  was  shattered  by  a  cannon  ball,  and 
amputation  became  necessary. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1840,  the  federalist  party, 
headed  by  General  Urrea  and  Gomez  Farias,  excited  an 
insurrection  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  seized  the  presi- 
dent himself.  After  a  conflict  of  twelve  days,  in  which 
many  citizens  were  killed  and  much  property  destroyed, 
a  convention  of  general  amnestry  was  agreed  upon  by  the 
contending  parties,  and  hopes  were  held  out  to  the 
federalists  of  another  reform  in  the  constitution. 

These  expectations  not  being  realized,  in  August, 
1 84 1,  another  revolution  broke  out.  It  commenced  with 
a  declaration  against  the  government  by  Paredes  in 
in  Guadalajara,  and  was  speedily  followed  by  an  upris- 
ing in  the  capital,  and  by  another  in  Vera  Cruz  headed 
by  Santa  Anna.  The  capital  was  bombarded.  A  month's 
contest  in  the  streets  of  the  city  followed,  and  the  revo- 
lution closed  with  the  downfall  of  Bustamente,  who  de- 
parted for  Europe,  leaving  the  executive  office  in  the 


u6 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS 


hands  of  Echeveria,  president  of  the  council,  or  virtual 
vice-president. 

In  September  a  convention  of  the  commanding  of- 
ficers was  held  at  Tacubaya,  a  general  amnesty  was  de- 
clared, and  a  "plan"  was  agreed  upon  by  which  the 
existing  constitution  of  Mexico  was  superseded  and  pro- 


v:(»xMv>. 

Santa  Anna. 


vision  made-  for  the  calling  of  a  congress  in  the  follow- 
ear  to  form  a  new  one.  The  "Plan  of  Tacnbaya" 
provided  for  the  election  in  the  meantime  of  a  provi- 
sional president,  who  was  to  be  invested  with  "all  the 
powei  iary  to  reorganize  the  nation  in  all  the 


FROM  CORTEX.   TO  DIAZ.  117 

branches  of  administration."  To  the  general-in-chief 
of  the  army  was  given  the  power  to  choose  a  junta  or 
council,  which  council  was  to  choose  the  president. 

Santa  Anna  being  at  the  head  of  the  army  selected 
the  junta,  and  the  junta  returned  the  compliment  by 
selecting  him  for  president.  He  declared  his  partiality 
for  a  firm  and  central  government,  but  expressed  his 
disposition  to  acquiesce  in  the  decision  of  that  intelli- 
gent body.  The  proceedings  of  that  body,  however,  not 
being  agreeable  to  him,  he  dissolved  it  in  the  following 
December,  and  a  junta  of  notables  was  convened  in  its 
place. 

The  result  of  the  deliberations  of  that  body  was  a 
a  new  constitution,  called  "The  Bases  of  Political  Or- 
ganization of  the  Mexican  Republic,"  proclaimed  on  the 
13th  of  June,  1843.  By  this  instrument  the  Mexican 
territory  was  divided  into  departments.  It  was  declared 
that  a  popular  representative  system  was  adopted,  and 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  is  professed  and  pro- 
tected to  the  exclusion  of  all  others.  The  executive 
power  was  lodged  in  the  hands  of  a  president,  to  be 
elected  for  the  term  of  five  years.  The  president  was  to 
be  assisted  by  a  council,  composed  of  seventeen  persons, 
appointed  by  the  president  himself,  and  their  tenure  of 
office  was  to  be  perpetual.  The  legislative  power  was 
vested  in  a  congress,  consisting  of  a  chamber  of  deputies 
and  a  senate.  A  property  qualification  was  required  as 
a  prerequisite  to  the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


1844  to  1855. 

Santa  Anna  Dictator — Revolution — Santa  Anna's 
Army — Imprisons  State  Deputies — Congress 
Dissolved  —  Resists  —  Herrera  Provisional 
President — Santa  Anna  Prisoner — Banished 
—  Annexation  of  Texas  —  War  With  the 
United  States — Many  Presidents  —  Santa 
Anna  Recalled  and  Made  President — Battles 
With  Americans — Defeat — Leaves  Mexico — 
Other  Presidents  —  Herrera  President  — 
Arista  President — Resigns — Santa  Anna  Re- 
turns — President  Again — Dictator  Again — 
Revolutions — Santa  Anna  Leaves  Mexico — 
Subsequent  Career — Death. 

UN  I )  KR  the  new  organic  system  of  government,  Santa 
Anna  was  chosen  president,  or  more  correctly 
speaking,  supreme  dictator  of  the  Mexican  nation; 
and  his  administration  commenced  in  January,  1844. 
The  new  government  met  with  much  opposition.  Santa 
Anna  had  been  raised  to  power  by  a  military  revolu- 
tion rather  than  by  a  people  free  to  exercise  their  uncon- 
trolled will,  and  they  regarded  with  distrust  both  the 
man  and  his  measures,  and  were  ready  for  a  revolt 
again  t  a  government  which  they  had  little  or  no  share 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  119 

in  establishing,  whenever  an  opportunity  was  presented 
or  a  leader  called  to  arms. 

After  the  lapse  of  some  months  Santa  Anna  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  retire  for  a  time  to  his  farm  for  pri- 
vate business,  and  it  became  the  duty  of  the  senate  to 
appoint  a  president  ad  interim. 

So  strong  had  the  opposition  to  the  dictator  become 
that  the  candidate  of  the  administration,  Canalizo,  had 
a  majority  of  only  one  vote  over  the  candidate  of  the 
opposition. 

Scarcely  had  Santa  Anna  left  the  capital  when  an 
insurrection  broke  out  in  Guadalajara,  and  congress 
was  called  upon  to  make  reforms  in  the  constitution  and 
laws.  Paredes,  the  revolutionist,  openly  declared 
against  the  dictator,  and  at  the  head  of  an  army 
marched  toward  the  capital.  Canalizo,  the  acting 
president,  immediately  invested  Santa  Anna  with  the 
command  of  the  army  which  operated  against  Paredes. 
At  the  head  of  8,500  men  he  departed  from  Jalapa  and 
arrived  at  the  capital.  The  .provinces  through  which 
he  passed  were  full  of  professions  of  loyalty  to  his  gov- 
ernment and  he  found  the  same  in  the  capital.  But  at 
the  same  time  symptoms  of  disquiet  and  uncertainty 
began  to  appear.  Although  congress  did  not  openly 
support  Paredes,  }ret  it  seemed  secretly  inclined  to  sup- 
port the  revolution;  and  moreover  it  insisted  that  Santa 
Anna  should  proceed  constitutionally,  which  he  had 
not  done;  for  he  had  taken  command  of  the  army  in 
person,  which  by  the  constitution  he  was  forbidden  to  do 
without  previous  permission  from  congress. 

Nevertheless  he  marched  with  his  army  on  the  22d 
of  November  for  the  state  of  Queretaro,  where  he  in- 
tended to  concentrate  a  force    sufficient  to  overwhelm 


1 20  HIS 7  OR  V  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

Paredes.  On  the  same  day  the  chamber  of  deputies 
voted  the  impeachment  of  the  minister  of  war  for  sign- 
ins:  the  order  bv  which  Santa  Anna  had  command  of 
the  army.  On  his  arrival  at  Queretaro  Santa  Anna 
found  that  while  the  military  were  in  his  favor,  yet  the 
legislative  assembly  had  already  pronounced  in  favor  of 
Paredes  and  the  reforms  demanded.  He  therefore  in- 
formed the  members  that  if  they  did  not  immediately 
re-pronounce  in  his  favor,  he  would  send  them  prisoners 
to  Perote,  and  on  their  refusal  to  do  so  they  were 
arrested  by  his  order. 

When  news  of  these  proceedings  reached  the  capital 
the  minister  of  war  and  the  acting  president  were 
ordered  to  appear  before  congress  and  inform  that  body 
whether  they  had  authorized  Santa  Anna  to  imprison 
the  members  of  the  assembly  at  Queretaro.  But  instead 
of  answering  to  this  demand,  on  the  istof  December  the 
minister  caused  the  doors  of  congress  to  be  closed;  and 
on  the  day  following  appeared  a  proclamation  of  Can- 
alizo  declaring  congress  dissolved  indefinitely  and  con- 
ferring upon  Santa  Anna  all  the  powers  of  government, 
legislative  as  well  as  executive,  the  same  to  be  exercised 
by  Canalizo  until  otherwise  ordered  by  Santa  Anna. 

When  news  of  these  proceedings  reached  Puebla 
the  garrison  and  people  declared  against  the  govern- 
ment and  offered  an  asylum  to  the  members  of  congress. 
Early  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  December  the  people 
of  the  capita]  and  the  military  arose  in  arms,  and  Can- 
ali/o  and  his  ministers  were  imprisoned.  On  the  7th 
congress  reassembled.     General  Herrera,  the  leader  of 

"nst  it  nt  ion  a  1  party,  was  appointed  provisional  presi- 

'■I  the  republic  and  a  new  ministry  was  formed. 
nd  festivities  of  the  people  followed.     The 


FROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DTAZ.  121 

tragedy  of  "Brutus,  or  Rome  Made  Free,"  was  per- 
formed at  the  theaters  in  honor  of  the  success  of  the 
revolutionists.  Everything  bearing  the  name  of  Santa 
Anna — his  trophies,  statues  and  portraits — were  de- 
stroyed by  the  populace.  Even  his  amputated  leg, 
which  had  been  embalmed  and  buried  with  military 
honors  was  disiutered,  dragged  through  the  streets  and 
broken  to  pieces  with  every  mark  of  indignity  and 
contempt. 

Santa  Anna,  however,  was  still  in  command  of  a 
large  body  of  the  regular  army,  at  the  head  of  which 
early  iu  January  he  marched  against  Puebla,  hoping  to 
strike  an  effective  blow  by  the  capture  of  that  place,  or 
to  open  his  way  to  Vera  Cruz,  whence  he  might  escape 
from  the  country,  if  that  alternative  became  necessary. 
But  at  Puebla  he  found  himself  surrounded  by  the  in- 
surgents in  overwhelming  numbers,  his  own  troops 
began  to  desert  him;  and  after  several  unsuccessful 
attempts  to  take  the  city,  on  the  1  ith  of  January  he  sent 
in  a  communication  offering  to  treat  with  and  submit  to 
the  government.  His  terms  not  being  accepted  he 
attempted  to  escape,  but  was  taken  prisoner  and  con- 
fined in  the  castle  of  Perote.  After  an  imprisonment  of 
several  months  congress,  after  first  ordering  his  execu- 
tion, finally  reconsidered  the  same  and  passed  a  decree 
of  perpetual  banishment  against  him,  when  he  left  the 
country  and  made  his  home  in  Cuba.  1 

In  the  meantime  Texas  having  remained  inde-| 
pendent  of  Mexico  for  nine  years,  and  having  been 
recognized  as  an  independent  nation  by  the  United 
States  and  the  principal  nations  of  Europe,  had  applied 
for  admission  into  the  American  union  as  a  state  thereof. 
On  the  6th  of  March,  1845,  soon  after  the  passage  of  the 


122  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

act  of  annexation  by  the  American  congress,  the 
Mexican  minister  at  Washington  4emanded  his  pass- 
ports and  returned  to  Mexico. 

On  the  arrival  in  Mexico  of  the  news  of  the  annexa- 
tion, the  provisional  president,  Herrera  issued  a  proc- 
lamation declaring  the  measure  a  breach  of  the  national 
faith  and  called  upon  the  citizens  to  rally  to  the  support 
of  the  national  integrity,  which  was  endangered.  He 
also  sent  large  bodies  of  troops  to  the  Rio  Grande  with 
the  object  of  enforcing  the  claim  of  Mexico  to  the  terri- 
tory of  Texas. 

In  view  of  these  facts  in  the  latter  part  of  July  the 
government  of  the  United  States  sent  General  Zachary 
Taylor  with  an  army  to  take  a  position  at  Corpus 
Christi,  in  the  state  of  Texas. 

In  the  election  which  was  held  in  Mexico  in 
August,  Herrera  was  chosen  president,  and  on  the  16th 
of  September  took  the  oath  of  office  in  the  presence  of 
the  Mexican  congress.  His  administration,  however, 
was  of  short  duration.  Evidently  convinced  of  the  in- 
ability of  Mexico  to  carry  on  a  successful  war  with  the 
United  States,  he  evinced  a  disposition  to  negotiate  for 
i  peaceful  settlement  of  the  controversy  which  caused 
Paredes,  who  was  in  command  of  a  portion  of  the  army 
designed  for  action  in  Texas,  to  seize  the  opportunity 
tni-  appealing  to  the  patriotism  of  his  countrymen.  He 
de<  land  against  Hie  administration  of  Herrera  with  the 
avowed  object  <>l  preventing  the  latter  from  concluding 
:m  arrangement  by  which  a  part  of  Mexico  should  be 
ceded  to  the  '  rnited  States. 

<)n  i  in  >ist  ol  December  the  Mexican  congress  con- 
d  upon  Herrera  dictatorial  powers  to  enable  him  to 
!  the  revolution,  but  on  the  approach  of  Paredes  to 


""  FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  123 

the  city  at  the  head  of  6,ooo  men,  the  regular  army 
there  declared  in  his  favor  the  administration  of  Herrera 
terminated  and  Paredes  became  provisional  president. 

The  hostile  spirit  which  the  war  party  in  Mexico, 
headed  by  Paredes  had  evinced  toward  the  United 
States,  induced  the  latter  to  take  measures  for  guarding 
against  any  invasion  of  the  territory  claimed  by  Texas; 
and  on  the  nth  of  March,  1846,  the  army  of  General 
Taylor  broke  up  its  encampment  at  Corpus  Christ  i  and 
commenced  its  march  toward  the  Rio  Grande.  On  the 
28th  of  the  same  month  it  took  a  position  opposite 
Matamoras.  Open  hostilities  soon  followed,  the  Mexi- 
cans making  the  attack. 

The  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma, 
fought  May  8  and  9,  on  the  soil  claimed  by  Texas,  re- 
sulted in  victory  to  the  American  arms  and  soon  after 
Matamoras  was  occupied.  On  the  21st,  22d  and  23d  of 
September  Monterey  was  stormed,  and  on  the  24th 
capitulated  to  General  Taylor.  Upper  California  had 
previously  submitted  to  the  American  navy,  commanded 
by  Commodore  Sloat,  and  the  city  and  valley  of  Santa 
Fe  had  surrendered  to  General  Kearney. 

Such  were  the  events  which  opened  the  war  on  the 
frontiers  of  Mexico.  Notwithstanding  the  energy  and 
success  which  marked  the  beginning  of  the  career  of 
Paredes  in  the  field,  he  was  able  to  hold  his  presidential 
office  only  six  months.  He  developed  remarkable 
monarchical  tendencies,  and  a  public  journal  published 
by  himself  openly  proposed  an  empire  with  a  Bourbon 
on  the  throne  as  the  only  means  whereby  the  Americans 
could  be  defeated.  He  marched  from  the  capital  to 
quell  an  insurrection  in  Guadalajara,  and  in  his  absence 


124  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

congress  installed  General  Bravo  as  president  ad  interim, 
on  the  29th  of  Jul}-. 

But  the  capital  developed  yet  another  insurrection. 
Bravo  was  displaced  and  General  Salas  became  provis- 
ional president.  Under  his  administration  all  contend- 
ing factions  were  reconciled  and  brought  to  unity  of 
action.  The  constitution  of  1824  was  re-established, 
the  army  reorganized,  Santa  Anna  recalled  from  exile 
that  his  skill  might  be  made  available  in  resisting  the 
American  armies,  congress  was  convened  for  the  elec- 
tion of  a  president  and  the  deposed  Paredes  was  arrested 
and  imprisoned. 

When  Santa  Anna  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  he  issued 
an  address  to  the  Mexican  people,  claiming  that  dis- 
interested patriotism  alone  had  induced  him  to  return, 
and  that  he  intended  to  seek  and  fight  the  invaders.  He 
moved  rapidly  to  the  capital,  took  command  of  military 
affairs,  seemed  to  ignore  politics,  collected  supplies, 
went  to  San  Luis  Potosi,  took  command  of  the  arm)7  and 
prepared  to  march  against  General  Taylor  at  Buena 
Vista.  While  thus  in  the  field,  congress  on  the  24th  of 
December,  1846,  elected  him  president  and  Gomes 
Farias  vice  president. 

Farias,  the  vice  president,  exerted  himself  in  the 
interim  to  secure  the  necessary  funds  wherewith  to 
carry  on  the  war.  He  enforced  a  decree  to  subject  the 
immense  properties  of  the  Church  to  the  payment  of 
duty  from  which  they  had  hitherto  been  ex- 
empt. Tli is  measure  caused  great  excitement  among 
the  clergy,  and  in  their  interest  and  at  their  instigation 
revolutions  were  commenced  in  Oaxaca  and  elsewhere. 

With  the  disastrous  defeat  of  Santa  Anna,  at  Buena 
.  he  returned  to  the  capital  and  assumed  the  presi- 


"~  FROM  CORTEZ   TO  DIAZ.  125 

dency.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  remove  Farias  and 
to  abolish  the  office  of  vice-president.  Bnt  the  advance 
of  General  vScott  and  the  American  army  to  Cerro  Gordo 
again  called  him  to  the  front.  This  time  General 
Anaya  was  appointed  presidential  substitute,  and  he 
held  the  office  about  two  months. 

The  defeat  of  the  Mexicans  at  Cerro  Gordo  caused 
the  return  of  the  army  to  the  capital,  and  from  the 
month  of  June  to  the  time  of  the  occupation  of  the  city 
by  the  victorious  Americans  in  September,  Santa  Anna 
discharged  the  duties  of  chief  executive.  When  it  was 
determined  to  abandon  the  city,  he  turned  the  command 
of  the  army  over  to  General  Lombardino  and  left 
Mexico.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  presidency  by  Don 
Manuel  Peua  Y.  Pena,  who  as  president  of  the  supreme 
court  of  justice,  was  entitled  to  the  office  under  the 
circumstances.  The  seat  of  government  was  tempo- 
rarily transferred  to  Queretaro,  the  capital  being  in  the 
hands  of  the  Americans. 

When  congress  assembled  Don  Pedro  Maria  Anaya 
was  appointed  president  ad  interim  on  the  12th  of 
November,  and  he  held  the  office  until  January  7th, 
when  Don  Manuel  Pena  Y  Pena  resumed  the  position 
and  held  it  until  June  3,  1848,  when  General  Herrera 
entered  the  second  time  into  the  presidency,  he  having 
been  duly  elected  thereto.  He  concluded  the  treaty  of 
peace  with  the  United  States,  ending  the  war  which 
commenced  in  his  first  term. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  people,  an  indication  of 
the  factions  into  which  they  were  divided,  and  an  evi- 
dence of  their  vacillation  and  incapacity,  to  know  that 
twelve  changes  took  place  at  executive  headquarters 
during  the  war  with  the  United  States. 


126  HIST  OR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

The  task  which  confronted  Herrera  was  a  most  dif- 
ficult one.  It  was  his  duty  to  revivify  the  country  so 
badly  destroyed,  to  reorganize  the  various  branches  of 
the  national  administration,  to  upbuild  the  institutions 
of  public  and  private  life,  and  to  reestablish  prosperity. 
He  was  confronted  with  an  exhausted  treasury  and  a 
divided  country. 

While  diligently  applying  himself  to  his  extraordi- 
nary duties  he  was  confronted  with  a  revolution  headed 
by  the  irrepressible  Paredes,  who  based  his  revolt  upon 
the  terms  on  which  the  war  with  the  United  States  had 
been  concluded;  but  the  government  troops  suppressed 
the  outbreak.  The  administration  of  Herrera  unfortu- 
nately failed  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  clergy,  who 
found  it  too  liberal  and  progressive.  But  while  discon- 
tent was  manifested  no  successful  demonstration  was 
made,  and  the  legal  term  of  four  j-ears  closed  in  peace. 

The  election  of  1850  resulted  in  the  choice  of 
General  Arista,  who  had  held  the  cabinet  office  of 
minister  of  war  under  Herrera,  and  who  had  lost  no  op- 
portunity to  make  his  office  aid  him  in  his  presidential 
aspirations.  His  inauguration  took  place  on  the  15th  of 
January,  1851,  when,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
the  country,  one  president  succeeded  another,  both  con- 
stitutionally elected,  and  without  violence. 

Arista  had  the  support  ot  the  liberals,  though  he 
himself  was  somewhat  of  a  conservative.  The  congress 
was  decidedly  liberal,  and  the  president  united  with  it 
in  its  policies  and  laws  against  centralism.  The  clergy, 
alarmed  at  the  progress  of  liberalism,  resolved  to  play 
their  \.i  t  resources  and  to  make  an  effective  resistance. 
A  revolution  was  started  in  Guadalajara.     This  was  fol- 


FROM  C0R1EZ  70  DIAZ.  127 

lowed  by  others,  and  it  all  resulted  in  compelling  Arista 
to  resign  in  January,  1853. 

The  presidency  then,  according  to  law  and  usage, 
devolved  upon  Juan  Bautista  Ceballos,  president  of  the 
supreme  court,  and  he  promptly  qualified  and  assumed 
the  office.  His  first  act  was  an  attempt  to  dissolve  con- 
gress on  account  of  its  excessively  liberal  acts  and  prin- 
ciples, but  congress  resisted  and  passed  a  resolution 
branding  him  as  a  traitor.  It  also  proceeded  to  elect 
Don  Juan  Mujica  president,  but  he  declined  the  office. 

Realizing  the  seriousness  of  the  opposition  to  his 
administration,  Ceballos  tendered  his  resignation.  But 
at  this  time,  February  4,  1S53,  the  army  which  favored 
centralism  began  a  revolution,  demanding  a  national 
convention  to  form  a  new  constitution,  and  named  Santa 
Anna  as  provisional  president. 

Santa  Anna  had  while  in  exile  maintained  corre- 
spondence with  the  conservatives,  centralists  and  the 
clergy,  who  were  ever  ready  to  aid  him  to  power. 
Ceballos  insisted  upon  his  resignation;  and  to  relieve 
himself  from  further  responsibility  and  to  secure  its  ac- 
ceptance he  appointed  General  Lombardino  president. 

That  officer  was  a  friend  to  Santa  Anna,  and  he  ac- 
cepted the  office  until  he  could  hold  an  election  in  some 
of  the  states.  The  election  resulted  in  the  choice  of  the 
exiled  Santa  Anna;  and  he,  being  prepared  for  the  re- 
sult, promptly  returned  to  the  scene  of  his  many  vicissi- 
tudes. 

On  the  1st  day  of  April,  1853,  the  feet  of  Santa 
Anna  were  newly  placed  on  the  soil  of  Mexico.  His 
journey  to  the  capital  appeared  as  a  triumphal  march. 
On  the  road  he  was  greeted  by  people  from  all  parts  of 
the  country  with  the  waving  of  banners  and  the  ringing 


128  HIS  TOR  J '  OF'MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

of  bells;  and  lie  passed  under  arches  richly  adorned  with 
the  most  beautiful  flowers,  amid  the  applause  of  the 
populace  and  salvos  of  artillery.  His  smiles  and 
promises  had  better  effect  than  a  studied  speech. 

None  the  less  was  the  effect  of  his  proclamation  of 
a  general  amnesty  towards  all  charged  with  political 
offenses,  which  calmed  the  fears  of  many  who  had  ex- 
pected acts  of  vengence.  He  immediately  commenced 
an  era  of  centralism,  dissolved  congress  and  the  legisla- 
tures of  the  several  states,  suppressed  all  city  govern- 
ments where  the  population  was  less  than  10,000,  and 
centralized  the  administration  of  the  revenues.  He  ap- 
pointed a  cabinet  which  was  in  accord  with  his  plans, 
and  began  to  formulate  a  plan  to  establish  a  monarchy, 
based  upon  the  principle  of  the  Spanish  empire. 

By  his  extraordinary  faculties  he  brought  his  entire 
party  into  complete  subordination  to  his  views  and 
wishes  as  dictator.  To  further  his  plans  he  deprived 
public  employees  of  the  right  to  hold  or  express  opinions, 
limited  the  liberty  of  the  press,  increased  the  army,  dis- 
banded the  militia,  flattered  the  populace,  and  reestab- 
lished the  Jesuits.  The  magnitude  of  his  vanity  and 
pretentions  was  manifest  when  he  took  the  style  of 
"serene  highness"  and  established  the  order  of  the 
"Guadalupe,"  the  same  as  was  instituted  by  the  Em- 
peror Iturbide. 

Idie  army  approved  of  these  advances  toward  cen- 
tralism, and  some  of  the  districts  proclaimed  him  em- 
peror. These  proceedings  were  not  sanctioned  by  the 
aeral,  and  to  many  his  assumptions  were 
only  a  subject  of  ridicule.  His  favorites  believed  him  to 
be  the  saviour  oi  the  nation,  and  that  if  he  did  not  con- 
tinue in  command  it  would  be  exposed  to  anarchy  and 


FROM  COR7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  129 

ruin.  They  thought  that  he  was  making  many  sacri- 
fices for  the  public  good.  Consequently,  on  the  16th  oi 
December,  1853,  he  issued  a  decree  in  which  he  pro- 
longed indefinitely  his  dictatorship.  "Full  torepletion 
with  vanity  and  blind  with  adulation,  Santa  Anna 
began  to  consider  himself  as  nearly  a  god." 

Opposition  to  his  dictatorship  promply  took  the 
form  of  revolution,  and  distinguished  patriots  in  all 
parts  of  the  country  were  developed,  who  pronounced 
against  him.  Among  those  who  led  in  revolt  was 
General  Juan  Alvarez,  an  old  revolutionist  who  had 
seen  service  with  Morelos  in  1810-11-12,  and  who  had 
never  ceased  to  love  liberty.  On  the  istof  March,  1854, 
he  proclaimed  the  plan  of  Ayutla,  wherein  he  called  for 
the  convocation  of  a  congress  which  should  form  a  new 
constitution,  by  which  a  federal  representative  system 
should  take  the  place  of  the  dictator's  schemes  and  arbi- 
trary assumptions. 

This  plan  was  largely  favored,  and  on  the  nth  of 
March  General  Ignatio  Comonfort  joined  in  the  move- 
ment, aided  by  the  garrison  at  Acapulco.  The  revolu- 
tion gained  ground  rapidly,  and  soon  a  large  force  was 
under  arms. 

Santa  Anna  took  personal  command  of  his  army, 
and  entered  the  field  to  suppress  the  revolt.  He  also 
proposed  and  held  a  popular  election,  wherein  the  people 
should  determine  whether  his  dictatorial  powers  should 
continue  or  not.  By  skillful  and  fraudulent  manipula- 
tion it  appeared  in  the  returns  that  his  powers  and  sjrs 
tem  should  continue;  but  so  palpable  were  the  frauds 
perpetrated  that  it  but  added  to  the  general  discontent; 
and  Alvarez's  army  was  greatly  reenforced.     After  a  few 


130  HIS1 ORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

contests  at  arms  Santa  Anna  returned  to  the  capital  and 
published  himself  victorious. 

The  sale  of  a  part  of  the  Mexican  national  domain 
to  the  United  States,  known  as  the  Gadsden  purchase, 
for  the  sum  of  $10,000,000,  only  a  part  of  which  reached 
the  national  treasury  of  Mexico,  added  to  the  unpopu- 
larity of  the  dictator. 

Accustomed  to  observe  the  political  barometer  and 
the  popular  sentiment,  and  to  note  the  coming  storm 
and  to  seek  a  place  of  security,  Santa  Anna  did  in  this 
case  as  he  had  often  done  in  the  past.  To  avoid  antici- 
pated personal  injury  at  the  hands  of  his  infuriated  and 
despoiled  subjects,  he  secretly  left  the  capital  on  the 
night  of  the  8th  of  August,  fled  rapidly  to  Vera  Cruz; 
and  three  days  after  quitting  the  City  of  Mexico  he 
sailed  for  Havana. 

Before  leaving  the  capital  he  named  a  triumvirate, 
composed  of  the  president  of  the  supreme  court  and 
Generals  Salas  and  Carrera,  who  should  administer  af- 
fairs of  state  in  his  absence.  At  Perote,  while  on  his 
flight,  he  issued  a  manifesto,  in  which  he  commended 
his  own  services  and  accused  others  of  having  ruined 
the  country.  This  was  the  last  paper  of  importance  is- 
sued by  .Santa  Anna  in  the  country,  which  had  been  for 
many  years  the  toy  of  his  base  intrigues,  and  whose 
ure  and  blood  had  been  poured  out  in  torrents  as  a 
sacrifice  to  Ins  ambitiou. 

Thus  ended  the  official  career  of  this  talented  and 
energetic,  but  ambitious  and  unprincipled  man.  No 
citizen  ol  Mexico  had  greater  opportunities  to  benefit 
the  country.  None  did  it  greater  injury.  He  resided 
time  in  Cuba  and  then  in  the  United  States.  He 
»>"!    overtures   to   the  French   generals,  in    1863,  to 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  131 

take  part  in  their  invasion  and  schemes  in  favor  of 
Maximilliau;  but,  as  confidence  in  his  integrity  was 
lacking,  he  was  not  permitted  so  to  do. 

After  the  fall  of  Maximilliau  he  schemed  against 
the  government  of  Juarez,  attempted  to  laud  at  Vera 
Cruz,  was  captured  and  sentenced  to  death;  but,  through 
the  leniency  of  the  president,  the  sentence  was  com- 
muted to  exile.  After  the  death  of  Juarez  he  returned 
to  Mexico  under  a  general  amnesty;  but  he  lived  in  ob- 
scurity, and  never  again  took  part  in  public  affairs.  He 
died  June  20,  1876,  and  his  tomb  is  in  the  Panteon  de 
Tepeyacac,  in  the  rear  of  the  Cerrito,  at  Guadalupe  Hi- 
dalgo, and  his  portrait  is  in  the  National  Museum  in  the 
City  of  Mexico. 

When  the  flight  of  Santa  Anna  from  the  City  of 
Mexico  became  known,  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of 
August,  anarchy  ruled;  and  in  their  excitement,  indig- 
nation, and  desire  for  revenge,  the  people  sacked  his 
house,  burned  his  coach  and  furniture,  and  in  like  des- 
perate and  lawless  manner  treated  the  houses  and  prop- 
erty of  his  ministers  and  principal  partisans  and  sup- 
porters. 


CHAPTER  X. 


IS55  TO  l858. 

Alvarez  President — Many  Reforms — Resigns — 
comonfort  pres i  dent suppresses  revolu- 
TION at  Puebla — Confiscates  Church  Prop- 
erty— More  Reforms — Church  Fights  and 
Suffers — Vast  Wealth  of  Clergy — New  Con- 
stitution— Ciiurh  Opposition — Comonfort  Va- 
cillates—  Successful  Church  Revolution  — 
Comonfort  Resigns  and  Leaves  Mexico. 

THE  triumvirate  appointed  by  Santa  Anna  without 
delay  installed  General  L,e  Vega  as  acting  presi- 
dent, and  lie  succeeded  in  establishing  order  in  the 
city.  The  troops  of  the  garrison,  however,  by  a  popular 
demonstration,  placed  General  Carrera  in  charge  of  the 
presidency;  and  on  the  15th  of  August  he  assumed  the 
office.  However,  he  resigned;  and  on  the  nth  of  Sep- 
tember I.e  Vega  again  became  acting  president,  and 
held  the  office  until  the  inauguration  of  Alvarez. 

With  the  downfall  of  Santa  Anna  the  plan  of  Ayutla 
was  put  into  full  force  and  effect,  and  the  congress 
which  was  called  under  its  provisions  elected  General 
Alvarez  provisional  president.  He  entered  upon  the 
discharge  ol  the  duties  of  the  office  on  the  4th  of  October, 
He  appointed  Comonfort  minister  of  war,  and 
also  took  into  his  cabinet  such  decided  liberals  as 
Juarez  and  <  Icampo. 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DTAZ.  133 

Now  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Mexico  was 
there  an  administration  of  national  affairs,  not  under  the 
absolute  control  of  the  clergy,  complete  in  all  depart- 
ments, and  sustained  by  the  fundamental  law.  Alvarez 
occupied  the  chair  of  state  only  until  December  12th, 
but  in  that  short  period  many  reforms  were  inaugurated. 
He  annulled  all  despotic  measures  adopted  by  Santa 
Anna,  and  removed  his  corrupt  appointees. 

During  his  administration  the  famous  and  character- 
istic "Law  Juarez"  was  promulgated.  This  law  limited 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  military  tri- 
bunals, and  abolished  the  charters  and  privileges  of  the 
clergy  and  the  army.  Although  these  measures  were 
necessary  to  prevent  other  and  threatened  political  dis- 
turbances, the  enemies  of  the  government  censured  it 
greatly,  attributing  the  measures  to  a  base  desire  to 
humiliate  the  clergy,  and  to  limit  their  influence. 

There  was  a  conservative  element  among  the  people 
who,  at  this  juncture,  urged  Alvarez  to  resign  his  office 
in  favor  of  Comonfort,  his  minister  of  war.  Alvarez  was 
an  old  man  with  no  ambition  except  to  benefit  his 
country;  and  having  the  greatest  confidence  in  Comon- 
fort, his  friend,  ally  and  fellow-patriot,  he  cheerfully 
complied  with  the  persuasions  and  committed  the  presi- 
dency to  his  hands. 

Although  less  radical  in  his  politics  than  Alvarez, 
the  new  president  maintained  faithfully  the  Plan  of 
Ayutla,  and  for  so  doing  the  clergy  continued  their 
machinations;  and  soon  after  they  installed  an  insurrec- 
tion headed  by  Haro,  one  of  Santa  Anna's  cabinet  offi- 
cers. Other  chiefs  of  influence  gave  co-operation,  and 
soon  after  a  large  insurrectionary  army  was  in  the  field 
at  Puebla.     Comonfort  in  person  took  command  of  the 


i34  HIST  OR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

government  troops,  gave  battle,  and  gained  a  signal 
victory,  which  resulted  in  the  surrender  of  Puebla. 

Inasmuch  as  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  had  been  the 
promoters  of  the  insurrection,  Comonfort  caused  the 
sequestration  of  enough  property  of  the  Church  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  to  indemnify  the  govern- 
ment against  all  damages  and  prejudices  which  had  oc- 
curred. 

These  measures,  so  radical  and  so  different  from  the 
past  centuries  of  the  history  of  Mexico,  caused  a  great 
commotion;  and  the  Bishop  Labastida  was  so  marked  in 
his  actions  that  he  was  banished  from  the  country,  and 
with  other  refugee  chiefs  sailed  for  Europe.  That  he 
did  not  yield  in  his  opposition  to  the  reformed  republic 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  when  the  French  troops  took 
possession  of  Mexico  in  accord  with  the  plans  of  the 
French  emperor  and  the  pope  of  Rome  to  overthrow  the 
Lawful  republic,  this  same  Labastida,  then  promoted  to 
the  office  of  archbishop,  came  with  them  and  aided  to 
establish  the  empire. 

Following  the  overthrow  of  the  revolt  of  Puebla,  a 
decree  was  published  which  suppressed  the  Jesuits  in 
Mexico;  and  on  the  25th  of  June,  1856,  the  famous  law 
of  which  Miguel  Lerdo  was  the  author  was  promulgated. 
By  this  law  all  corporations,  civil  and  ecclesiastical, 
were  prohibited  from  owning  real  estate,  except  such  as 

necessary  to  the  business  of  the  organization.  It 
to  all  lessees  of  any  church  property  the  right  to 
pun  base  the  same  on  advantageous  terms,  and  gave  the 
right  <>l  "denunciation"  whereby  any  improved  property 
ol  the  Church  which  should  be  untenanted  could  be 
entered  and  possessed  byanycitizen;  and  the  title  would 
go  with  the  possession.    A  decree  was  also  issued  order- 


FROM  C0R1EZ  10  DIAZ.  135 

ing  the  sale  of  all  unimproved  real  estate  of  the  Church 
at  an  assessed  value.  The  Church  was  to  receive  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale,  but  the  land  was  to  be  thereby 
freed  from  ecclesiastical  control,  and  to  become  a  part  of 
the  taxable  wealth  of  the  country,  held  in  private 
hands. 

The  clergy  issued  anathemas  against  these  orders, 
and  denounced  any  and  all  who  should  purchase  at  the 
sales,  with  the  assurance  that  the  curse  of  God  would 
go  with  the  title  thus  acquired.  The  result  was  that  but 
few  bidders  had  the  courage  to  take  the  risk.  But  with 
wise  foresight  as  to  the  speculative  opportunity,  and 
with  the  impression  that  the  clergy  were  not  the  kind 
of  people  for  whom  God  would  interfere  by  a  special  pro- 
vidential visitation  of  an  injurious  character,  some  had 
the  courage  to  buy  and  take  title  to  valuable  properties 
at  ruinously  low  figures;  and  as  a  result  many  Mexicans 
are  now  millionaires,  who,  while  they  enjoy  the  benefits 
of  the  property,  have  not  found  themselves  to  be  the 
spec:al  subjects  of  divine  wrath,  nor  even  to  be  avoided 
by  their  fellow-men,  priests  included. 

In  September,  1856,  Comonfort  had  information 
that  certain  ecclesiastics,  who  were  domiciled  in  the 
monastery  of  San  Francisco,  in  the  city  were  conspiring 
against  his  government.  By  his  order  the  national 
troops  took  possession  of  the  building  and  its  inmates. 
The  monastery  was  suppressed  and  its  property  confis- 
cated. Afterwards  the  decree  of  suppression  was  re- 
called, but  the  conspiring  ecclesiastics  were  not  molli- 
fied. 

These  measures  caused  the  clergy  to  raise  a  fearful 
outcry,  and  to  hurl  anathemas  at  the  government,  but 
the  only  result  was  the  banishing  of  many  of  the  clergy 


136  HISTORY  01  ME  "  /CAN  POLITICS, 

and  friars.  The  dtportment  of  C  onion  fort  in  all  these 
trying  times  was  so  straightforward  and  so  generous 
that  he  gained  many  friends  and  secured  the  sympathies 
of  many  for  the  liberal  cause  and  principles. 

Mexico  had  secured  her  independence  with  a  grand 
revolutionary  struggle  which  ended  in  1821;  but  the  na- 
tion was  feeble  and  vacillating,  and  groaned  under  the 
evils  transmitted  from  three  centuries  of  military,  politi- 
cal and  ecclesiastical  oppression. 

"In  the  great  struggle  of  the  present  period  the  re- 
publicans directed  their  attacks  upon  despotism,  super- 
stitution,  and  the  odious  distinctions  between  class  and 
race,  seeking  to  unite  all  classes  into  a  compact  and  in- 
telligent effort  to  dispossess  placemen  and  spoilsmen, 
who  in  the  past  affiliated  with  any  and  all  parties  to 
secure  spoils. 

"The  conservatives  claimed  that  the  masses  were 
in  no  condition  to  practice  and  enjoy  equality  of  rights 
and  liberty;  and  that  only  the  Church  had  power  and 
the  indispensable  ability  to  maintain  nationality. 

"The  centralists  and  monarchists  claimed  that  it 
was  unwise  and  injudicious  to  divide  the  country  into 
states  that  so  to  do  was  perilous  to  union  and  order;  and 
that  the  supreme  authority  should  be  deposited  in  the 
hands  of  one  vigorous  person,  who  could  suppress  revo- 
lutions and  secure  the  advancement  of  the  country;  and 
that  power  should  be  lodged  with  the  religious  and  the 
rich  of  the  land,  instead  of  the  people  in  general. 

"The  liberals  recognized  the  origin  and  tendencies 

il.   and    with   energy  continued   their  attacks 

and  in  spite  of  occasional  reverses  main- 

aed  theii  efforts.     Education  gained  ground,  the  in- 

ition   had   been   abolished,   and   the  Jesuits  had  110 


FROM  CORTEX  TO  DIAZ.  137 

more  power;  and  so  gradually  the  power  of  the  Church 
had  been  diminished. 

"The  Spanish  government  had  administered  a  ter- 
rible blow  against  the  priests,  friars  and  military  tribu- 
nals, just  before  the  independence  of  Mexico  had  been 
gained;  and  now  the  republic  was  following  the  excel- 
lent example.  Vows  made  to  religious  orders  were  ab- 
solved, missions  had  been  secularized,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  right  to  name  and  number  the  prelates  had 
been  exercised,  regulations  had  been  made  and  enforced 
whereby  the  revenues  and  incomes  of  the  Church  and 
clergy  had  been  limited,  and  the  civil  tribunals  had 
been  invested  with  the  right  to  supervise  the  Church, 
the  clergy  and  their  properties. 

"These  acts  were  at  the  dictation  of  Juarez  and 
Lerdo,  and  had  for  their  principal  object  the  depriving 
of  the  clergy  of  power  to  carry  forward  their  peril- 
ous machinations;  for  with  their  immense  riches  they 
were  able  to  control  political  elements  and  parties,  and 
perpetuate  their  selfish  and  injurious  plans."* 

From  the  date  of  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  in  1521, 
the  clergy  had  charged  themselves  with  two  lines  of 
work.  One  was  to  see  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
people,  and  to  that  they  devoted  some  of  their  leisure, 
and  had  made  some  progress;  the  other  was  to  secure  as 
much  as  possible  of  the  wealth  of  the  country  into  the 
hands  of  the  clergy  and  the  coffers  of  the  Church,  and 
in  the  last  named  duty  they  had  made  greater  progress. 
Notwithstanding  the  losses  which  the  Church  had  sus- 
tained by  the  war  and  other  opposing  measures,  in  i860 
one-third  of  the  national  wealth  was  absolutely  in  their 
control,  though  the  state  coffers  were  empty. 

*Biografia  de  Diaz. 


138  HISTOR  V  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

The  holdings  of  the  Church  and  clergy  at  that  time 
was  $500,000,000  in  real  estate  and  $150,000,000  in 
personal  property.  These  accumulations  were  the  re- 
sult of  the  policy  adopted  by  the  Spanish  discoverers 
and  conquerors,  who  had  liberally  granted  to  the  Church 
a  division  of  the  spoils  in  the  form  of  large  concessions 
of  land  and  important  privileges.  To  aid  the  reader  in 
understanding  the  facts,  the  following  is  inserted: 

"The  Church  has  occupied  in  Mexico  a  very  promi- 
nent part  for  good  and  for  evil.  The  cross  and  the 
sword  have  marched  hand  in  hand  on  the  road  to  con- 
quest. *  *  *  Notwithstanding  the  Church  is 
enriched  with  casual  profits,  gifts  and  the  increase  of 
values,  until  on  a  fair  calculation  its  properties  are 
equivalent  to  half  the  total  riches  of  the  country  in  real 
estate,  the  revenues  from  the  nine  dioceses  and  that  of 
Chiapas,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  eighteenth  century  has 
been  computed  positively  at  $13,000,000  annually,  of 
which  the  third  part  went  to  the  archbishop.  *  *  * 
The  power  of  the  clergy  was  sustained  also  by  a 
great  number  of  privileges,  among  the  most  conspicuous 
being  the  right  to  exercise  the  jurisdiction  of  ecclesi- 
astical courts  of  justice,  the  influence  which  they  ex- 
ercised in  the  confessional,  and  the  terrible  weapon 
which  they  had  in  the  'Halls  of  Torment  of  the  Inqui- 
sition.' With  the  advent  of  Republicanism,  the  Church 
delivered  to  the  same  a  furious  blow,  for  its  attitude  was 
pronounced  in  favor 01  Spain,  supported  by  an  encyclical 
from  the  Vatican."* 

Up  to  the  inauguration  of  the  reforms  introduced 
by  the  Juarez  and  the  Lerdo  laws,  and  the  constitution 
57,  then-  could  scarcely  have  been  said  to  be  more 
*B(oftmfla  <lc  Diaz. 


FROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  139' 

than  two  classes  among  those  who  were  citizens — the 
Church  on  one  hand  and  the  army  on  the  other — for  the 
numerous  mixed  and  Indian  populations  were  almost 
wholly  unrepresented  in  the  government. 

The  stranger  was  reminded  of  this  domain  of 
military  and  spiritual  power  by  the  constant  sound  of 
the  drum  and  the  bell  which  rang  in  his  ears  from  early 
morn  to  midnight,  drowning  the  sounds  of  industry  and 
labor;  and  by  their  paraphernalia  of  show  and  parade, 
deeply  impressing  him  that  there  were  no  truly  Re- 
publican influences  prevailing  around  him. 

A  large  standing  army  was  maintained,  not  to 
guard  the  nation  against  invading  foes,  but  to  protect 
the  government,  which  happened  to  be  in  power  against 
the  people.  During  the  first  thirty-  seven  years  of  inde- 
pendent life  Mexico  had  eight  or  nine  distinct  forms  of 
government,  fifty  changes  in  the  office  of  chief  execu- 
tive, and  more  than  three  hundred  revolutions.  All 
these  changes  came  from  the  army  and  Church  com- 
bined or  singly,  or  were  the  patriotic  uprisings  of  the 
people  to  resist  and  overthrow  usurping  and  oppressive 
administrations  which  had  no  better  right  than  the  will 
and  ambition  of  the  clergy  or  the  military. 

The  development  of  liberal  ideas  culminated  in  the 
enactment  of  a  new  constitution  on  the  5th  of  February, 
1857,  which  was  of  surpassing  merit  for  the  country. 
This  constitution  is  the  same  with  certain  amendments, 
which  is  the  fundamental  law  of  Mexico  to-day.  It 
was  the  work  of  the  champions  of  liberty  who  had  added 
to  their  innate  patriotism  the  accumulated  wisdom 
acquired  by  their  experience  in  the  politics  of.  the 
country  for  forty-six  years  of  turbulence,  revolutions 
and  wars. 


i4o  HISTOR 1 '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

The  president  of  the  constitutional  convention  was 
Valentine  Gomez  Farias,  who  had  delivered  the  first 
blow  at  the  party  of  the  Church  in  1833.  It  was  of  the 
same  spirit  as  the  constitution  of  1824,  and  was  based 
upon  that  of  the  United  States,  but  was  much  advanced 
in  sentiments  of  reform.  Among  its  provisions,  and 
those  which  attracted  the  hatred  and  opposition  of  the 
clergy,  were  liberty  in  teaching,  provisions  for  granting 
liberty  from  monastic  vows,  the  liberty  without  restric- 
tion of  the  tribune  and  the  press,  the  prohibiting  of 
corporations  to  possess  real  estate,  the  abolition  of 
special  privileges  and  hereditary  titles  and  of  special 
tribunals,  the  conferring  upon  the  government  the  right 
to  supervise  the  affairs  of  ecclesiastical  orders  and  dis- 
cipline and  the  no  less  important  provision  that  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion  was  not  imposed  as  the  religion 
of  the  state.  It  also  provided  that  the  president  of  the 
supreme  court  of  justice  should  succeed  to  the  presi- 
dency in  case  of  the  death,  resignation  or  disqualifica- 
tion of  the  president. 

The  Church  and  the  army  combined  to  oppose  the 
new  constitution,  which  was  to  take  effect  on  the  16th 
of  September,  the  anniversary  of  Mexican  independence: 
and  they  put  in  force  all  of  their  influences  to  create  a 
reaction  against  it.  So  hostile  was  the  attitude  of  the 
v  that  it  became  necessary  to  arrest  the  archbishop 
and  others  of  the  higher  orders.  Their  resentment  was 
not  in  any  degree  mollified  when  Iglesias,  a  member  of 
the  cabinet,  promulgated  a  decree  prohibiting  priests 
from  collecting  their  ordinary  revenues  and  tees  for 
services  and  limiting  them  to  just  such  sums  and 
amounts  as  w  re  accessary  for  their  maintainance. 

The    first   meeting  of  the  congress  held  under  the 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  141 

auspices  of  the  new  constitution  occurred  on  the  7th  of 
October,  1857.  The  majority  of  the  members  were  men 
of  liberal  principles,  and  Juarez  was  elected  to  preside. 
The  election  for  national  officers  was  held  and  Com- 
onfort  was  elected  to  the  office  of  president,  having 
for  two  years  been  only  provisional  executive.  Juarez 
was  at  the  same  time  elected  president  of  the  supreme 
court  of  justice. 

The.  new  officers  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  their 
respective  duties  on  the  1st  of  December,  1857.  This 
was  the  signal  for  united  hostile  action  on  the  part  of 
the  clergy  and  the  army,  who  opposed  both  the  con- 
stitution and  its  official  representatives.  They  had  also 
the  co-operation  of  many  civil  employees.  Their  united 
action  caused  the  president  to  vacillate.  To  aid  him  in 
his  dilemma  he  called  a  council  of  representatives  from 
each  state  and  the  first  dignitaries  of  the  Church.  Under 
their  advice,  influence  and  threats,  he  revoked  the  very 
constitution  which  he  had  signed,  by  which  he  held  his 
office,  and  which  he  had  ten  days  previously  sworn  to 
maintain. 

Inasmuch  as  Juarez  had  been  the  instigator  of  the 
vigorous  reform  and  anti-church  policies  of  Cornon- 
fort's  administration,  the  clergy  singled  him  out  for 
special  punishment;  and  the  president  at  their  instance 
caused  his  arrest  and  imprisonment,  notwithstanding 
his  position  as  president  of  the  supreme  court  of  justice 
and  constitutional  vice-president. 

In  the  place  of  the  constitution  Comonfort  set  up 
the  "Bases  of  Political  Organization  of  the  Mexican 
Republic,"  proclaimed  by  Santa  Anna  in  1843,  as  the 
organic  law,  thus  making  a  complete  surrender  to  the 
clerical    centralist   party.     By  this    timid,    weak    and 


i42  HIST  OR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

traitorous  policy,  he  lost  his  relation  to  the  Republicans 
and,  being  manifestly  unreliable,  he  failed  to  satisfy  the 
opposition. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  timidity  and  practical 
errors  of  Comonfort,  the  Church  party,  led  by  General 
Zuloaga,  started  a  rebellion  at  Tacubaya,  where  he  was 
in  command  of  a  part  of  the  army.  Comonfort  dis- 
covered too  late  the  mistake  he  had  made,  restored  the 
constitution  and  released  Juarez.  He  organized  the 
National  Guard  and  tried  to  suppress  the  insurrection. 
Zuloaga  received  the  support  of  Miramon  and  others, 
took  the  field  and  captured  the  capital,  the  garrison 
there  co-operating  with  the  revolutionists. 

Comonfort  then  resigned  the  presidency  and  fled 
to  Vera  Cruz.  Thence  on  the  21st  of  January  he  took 
passage  for  the  United  States  and  afterwards  sailed  for 
Europe.  But  he  returned  to  Mexico,  became  a  member 
of  the  cabinet  of  Juarez,  followed  that  officer  when  he 
was  compelled  by  the  French  army  to  abandon  the 
capital  and  was  traitorously  assassinated  on  the  12th  of 
November,  1863. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

1858  TO   1S59. 

Juarez  President— Zuloaga  Revolutionary  Church 
President  —  Occupies  the  Capital  —  Juarez 
Flees  to  Vera  Cruz  via  Panama  and  New  Or- 
leans— Biography  of  Juarez — Zuloaga  Recog- 
nized by  Foreign  Governments — War — War — 
War — Spiritual  vs.  Carnal  Weapons — Confis- 
cations. 

THE  flight  of  Comonfort  and  his  cabinet  from  the 
capital  made  Zuloaga  master  of  the  situation. 
Many  of  the  liberal  deputies  of  congress  were  ar- 
rested, others  fled  to  Queretaro,  where  seventy  of  them 
organized  a  congress  under  the  constitution,  recognized 
Juarez  as  president,  and  with  all  due  and  legal  forms  he 
was  installed  as  constitutional  president  on  the  10th  of 
January,  1858.  He  appointed  a  cabinet,  organized  an 
army,  and  proceeded  to  the  discharge  of  the  duties  inci- 
dent to  the  responsible  office. 

The  deputies  of  congress  who  were  in  accord  with 
the  Plan  of  Tacubaya,  and  a  junta  of  notables,  elected 
Zuloaga  provisional  president  on  the  2 2d  of  January. 
He  proceeded  to  exercise  the  duties  of  the  office,  named 
a  cabinet,  annulled  the  constitution  and  the  ultra-liberal 
decrees  and  laws  of  Comonfort's  administration  and 
ordered  the  restoration  of  •  all  goods  and  property  of 
which  the  Church  had  been  deprived.     He  also  placed 


144  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

an  army  in  the  field  to  capture  Juarez  and  break  up  his 
government. 

Juarez  fled  to  Guanajuato  and  then  to  Guadalajara. 
At  the  latter  place  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  a  renegade 
on  the  17th  of  March,  and  was  sentenced  to  death. 
When  his  capture  became  known  throughout  the 
county  it  gave  great  joy  to  the  clergy,  as  it  was  con- 
sidered to  be  the  death  blow  to  Juarez  and  to  liberalism. 
But  their  joy  was  short  lived;  for  before  the  sentence  of 
death  could  be  executed  a  militar)^  force  that  was  loyal 
to  the  president  came  to  the  rescue,  and  the  liberated 
Juarez  was  enabled  to  reach  the  city  of  Manzanillo,  on 
the  Pacific  coast,  on  the  17th  of  April,  when  he  sailed 
for  and  crossed  the  isthmus  of  Panama,  took  ship  for 
New  Orleans,  and  thence  sailed  for  Vera  Cruz,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  4th  of  May,  and  was  cordially  received 
by  the  governor  and  other  liberals. 

The  city  of  Vera  Cruz  was  a  strong  place,  sustained 
as  it  was  by  the  castle  of  Ulua;  and  being  the  principal 
p.  >ri  of  Mexico  the  revenues  there  collected  aided  to 
secure  funds  wherewith  to  carry  on  the  war,  and  to 
se  lire  arms  and  munitions  from  the  United  States. 
There  Juarez  set  up  his  government  as  the  constitu- 
tional president  of  the  Mexican  republic. 

Benito  Pablo  Juarez  was  a  pure-blood  Indian  of  the 
Zapoteca  tribe.  He  was  born  in  an  adobe  house  with  a 
dirt  floor,  in  the  state  of  Oaxaca,  on  the  21st  of  March, 
He  became  an  orphan  in  early  life,  his  father 
having  died  just  before  and  his  mother  shortly  after  his 
birth.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  could  speak  only 
Ids  native  ton-tie,  and  could  neither  read  nor  write. 
Being  a  penniless  orphan  he  toiled  at  boyish  occupa- 
tion,, among  which  was  herding  cattle. 


FROM  CORTEZ   '10  DIAZ.  145 

His  industry  and  intelligence  attracted  the  notice 
and  enlisted  the  sympathies  of  a  merchant,  who  placed 
him  in  a  seminary.  He  passed  with  honor  the  course 
of  studies  in  that  school,  when  a  pious  friend,  noting  his 
good  qualities,  proposed  to  provide  for  his  education  for 
the  ecclesiastical  profession. 

While  Juarez  apppreeiated  the  generous  offer,  his 
honesty  and  patriotism  forbade  its  acceptance.  The 
times  were  very  favorable  for  education  in  the  politics  of 
the  countrv,  as  ever  since  he  began  his  studies  there  had 
been  a  continual  series  of  pronuuciamientos,  outrages, 
revolutions  and  wars;  and  party  zeal  had  risen  to  the 
grade  of  excessive  heat.  Hidalgo  began  his  revolution 
when  Juarez  was  four  years  of  age,  Iturbide  and  Guer- 
rero secured  the  independence  of  the  country  when  he 
was  fifteen,  Santa  Anna  issued  his  first  pronnnciamiento 
two  years  afterward,  the  war  against  the  Spanish  in- 
vaders, and  the  insurrection  to  overthrow  Guerrero,  and 
federalism  took  place  when  he  was  twenty-three,  and 
for  four  years  the  country  was  in  a  state  of  general, 
political  and  militarj7  excitement,  and  war  was  almost 
continuous. 

Juarez  early  in  his  knowledge  of  these  discussior..- , 
excitements  and  battles,  had  adopted  liberal  ideas  and 
principles,  and  had  become  the  enemy  of  the  ambitious 
and  covetous  Church.  Under  the  influence  of  his  very 
positive  political  principles  he  declined  to  study  for  the 
priesthood  and  decided  to  become  an  advocate,  or 
lawyer.  Availing  himself  of  all  means  at  command,  he 
received  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  laws  in  1832,  and  at 
the  same  time  was  elected  a  deputy  to  the  legislature  oi 
Oaxaca.  his  native  state.  Two  years  afterwards  he  re- 
ceived his  credentials  as  abogado,  or  attorney  at  law. 


i46  MIS  TOR  } '  OF  MEXICAN  PO II TICS, 

Thus  rapid  was  the  elevation  of  this  humble  Indian 
boy,  who  at  twelve  years  of  age,  nearly  naked,  worked 
in  the  mountains,  and  whose  hopes  at  that  time  of  ac- 
quiring education,  position  and  fame  were  on  a  par  with 
the  cattle  which  he  herded.  Twenty-four  years  after 
this  date  he  occupied  the  presidential  chair,  and  could 
use  with  energy  and  eloquence  the  language  of  which 
he  knew  not  a  single  syllable  at  the  age  of  twelve  years. 

Juarez  remained  through  all  his  life  a  liberal  in 
politics,  and  opposed  to  centralism.  His  ability,  energy 
and  success  as  a  political  leader  called  down  upon  him 
the  hatred  of  the  Church  and  such  of  its  friends  as  were 
at  any  time  in  power;  and  under  such  persecution  he 
experienced  all  the  vicissitudes  of  political  life  in 
Mexico,  including  arrest,  imprisonment,  sentence  of 
death,  escape,  exile  and  amnesty.  But  all  these  were 
compensated  by  his  honors,  for  in  addition  to  the  office 
of  legislator  he  held  that  of  judge,  senator,  governor 
and  cabinet  minister,  before  he  became  by  popular  elec- 
tion president  of  the  supreme  court  of  justice,  and  in  the 
line  of  succession  to  the  presidency,  in  1857. 

When  Santa  Anna  returned  from  exile  and  became 
president  in  [853,  he  caused  the  arrest  of  Juarez,  and 
without  giving  him  time  or  opportunity  to  consult  his 
family  and  friends, sent  him  to  prison  at  Vera  Cruz,  and 
then  to  Cuba.  From  there  he  went  to  New  Orleans, 
where  he  lived  in  poverty  for  more  than  a  year.  But 
during  that  time  he  studied  the  laws  and  institutions  of 
the  United  States,  imbibed  more  fully  the  spirit  of 
liberty  and  progress,  and  was  thus  better  prepared  for 
the  work  which  now  fell  to  him  as  president  of  the  re- 
public  mi  Mexico.  I  luring  his  exile  he  also  studied  the 
ot    Washington    and    Bolivar,   whom   he  took  as 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  147 

models,  and  it  is  no  disparagement  to  those  immortal 
names  to  add  in  the  same  category  that  of  Juarez,  as  a 
world-distinguished  statesman  and  patriot. 

In  this  contest  for  the  constitution,  law  and  order 
against  revolution  and  the'monopoly  of  a  wealthy  domi- 
neering class,  Mexico  anticipated  the  United  States  by 
three  years.  The  pure  patriot  and  wise  statesman, 
Juarez,  stood  as  firmly  for  the  welfare  of  his  country  at 
that  time  as  did  Lincoln  for  that  of  the  United  States  in 
1 86 1 ,  and  the  final  results  in  Mexico  in  the  success  of  the 
national  cause  was  not  less  to  the  benefit  and  glory  of 
that  country  than  was  the  final  victory  for  the  constitu- 
tion, law  and  order,  and  the  overthrow  of  a  domineering 
revolutionary  class  in  the  United  States  in  1865. 

Zuloaga,  however,  as  provisional  president,  occu- 
pied the  capital,  auel  his  military  forces  were  in  posses- 
sion of  most  of  the  country.  With  this  prestige  all  of  the 
representatives  of  foreign  governments,  including  the 
United  States,  recognizeel  the  government  of  Zuloaga. 

Thus  two  rival  administrations  disputed  for  the 
control  of  public  affairs.  One  representee!  liberal  princi- 
ples with  a  federal  representative  system;  the  other  sus- 
tained centralism.  One  was  based  upon  the  constitution 
adopted  by  the  people  in  a  legal  manner;  the  other  was 
a  revolution.  The  centralist  cause  was  supported  by  the 
clergy,  the  wealthy,  and  the  aristocrats  of  the  country; 
the  liberals  had  the  sympathy  and  aid  of  the  more 
humble  classes.  It  was  a  war  for  the  life  or  the  death 
of  each  system,  and  it  rageel  with  all  the  bitterness  of  a 
religious  war,  and  was  the  most  sanguinary  of  all  the 
civil  wars  in  which  Mexico  had  been  engaged. 

To  the  arms  of  the  revolutionists  was  added  the 
spiritual  forces  of  the  Church.     The  clergy  launched 


14s  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXIC.  IN  POLITICS, 

anathemas  against  the  liberal  chiefs  and  cause,  and  pub- 
lished them  broadcast.  The}'  also  from  the  pulpit  and 
in  the  confessional  excited  the  fears  of  the  timid  and  the 
superstitious. 

Juarez  met  these  ecclesiastical  assaults  with  a  more 
powerful  and  effective  force.  On  the  12th  of  July,  1859, 
he  published  a  decree,  whereby  he  confiscated  to  the 
government  all  of  the  property  of  the  Church.  This  de- 
cree was  founded  on  the  fact  that  the  clergy  had  been 
the  principal  supporters  of  the  royalists  in  the  war  for 
independence,  and  since  that  time  had  been  the  most 
powerful  enemy  to  liberal  principles,  and  that  the)'  had 
promoted  the  present  civil  war  with  the  object  of  retain- 
in-  supremacy  over  civil  as  well  as  religious  affairs. 

This  decree  devolved  upon  the  nation  all  of  the 
properties  of  the  clergy,  both  regular  and  secular.  It 
also  separated  the  Church  and  the  state,  and  at  the  same 
time  conceded  to  all  religious  sects  the  right  to  establish 
and  teach  their  doctrines,  publicly  and  without  restraint. 
By  this  decree  the  clergy  were  restricted  to  such  com- 
pensation lor  their  services  as  should  be  voluntarily  be- 
stowed by  their  parishioners;  and  the  Church  was  pro- 
hibited the  right  to  possess  real  estate.  It  also  dissolved 
absolutely  all  religious  orders  and  communities,  as  be- 
in-  contrary  to  tin-  public  morals  and  welfare;  and  it 
declared  that  matrimony  should  be  considered  a  civil 
cont'  ,\  from  tin-  rules  and  expenses  imposed  by 

tin  <  lergy,  which  had  in  their  exercise  tended  to 
l't  the  morals  of  the  country. 

Tin  inally  and  primarily  had  for  its  ob- 

trol  of   the   many  evils   which    existed,  and 

d  to  that  end  in  good   faith,  but  in  addition  it 

olitical  arm  to  assist  the  liberal  cause. 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  149 

The  stand  taken  by  Juarez  to  dispossess  the  Church 
of  property,  revenues,  power  and  influence,  was  not  the 
result  of  any  change  in  his  religious  faith.  He  was 
born,  reared,  lived  and  died  a  Roman  Catholic.  He 
never  had  assistance  in  the  way  of  counsel  or  advice 
from  a  Protestant.  In  early  life  he  had  seen  the  baleful 
results  of  having  the  affairs  of  state  controlled  by  the 
Church. 

The  vicious  greed  for  wealth  and  power  inherent  in 
all  political  corporations  was  tully  developed  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  in  their  many  years  of  experi- 
ence and  dominion  in  Europe,  wherein  kings  and  king- 
doms had  been  made  and  destroyed,  through  the  exer- 
cise of  the  temporal  power,  which  also  had  given  oppor- 
tunity to  levy  vast  tribute  and  thereby  the  clergy  of  that 
church  had  been  fully  prepared  to  take  possession  of  the 
spoils  offered  in  the  occupation  of  Mexico.  For  more 
than  three  centuries  the  resources  of  that  rich  country 
had  been  drawn  upon  to  their  utmost,  and  the  Church 
in  Mexico  and  in  the  mother  country  had,  therefrom, 
luxuriated  in  adorned  cathedrals,  churches  and  chapels, 
with  all  the  paraphernalia  of  its  imposing  ceremonies, 
while  the  priests,  bishops  and  archbishops  had  enjoyed 
personal  and  physical  benefits,  had  in  fact  become — like 
their  class  the  world  over — fat  as  stall  fed  cattle,  and 
realized  the  comforts  of  ease,  wealth,  luxury  and  idle- 
ness in  the  richest  exuberance. 

Aside  from  their  princely  holdings  of  real  estate, 
the  revenues  and  incomes  resulting  from  their  minis- 
terial pay  amounted  to  Si 3,000.000  annually,  and  the 
archbishop  managed  to  keep  the  wolf  from  the  door  of 
his  domestic  domicile,  wherein  no  wife  could  overdraw 
his  income  by  her  personal  or  social  ambitions  in  the 


1 50  HIS  TORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

way  of  equipage,  dress,  adornments  or  entertainments, 
by  having  apportioned  as  his  share  one-third  of  the 
gross  amount,  giving  him  the  princely  income  of  $11, 00c 
a  day. 

The  poor  Indian  orphan  boy,  Juarez,  had  learned 
of  these  facts,  for  they  were  facts  of  the  centuries,  taught 
by  kgcnd  and  deeply  impressed  upon  the  aborigines  by 
the  confirming  testimony  of  observation  and  experience. 
He  had  seen  the  wealth  and  pomp  which  surrounded 
the  sacerdotal  profession,  the  superstitious  reverence 
bestowed  upon  all  that  pertained  to  the  Church;  and 
with  age  and  education  he  saw  with  pain  the  fact  that 
so  perverted  were  the  noble  intuitions  which  once  in- 
spired the  natives,  that  they  now  kissed  the  hands 
which  had  enslaved  and  despoiled  them,  and  that  genu- 
ine love  and  blind  faith  were  the  motives  which 
prompted  their  continual  bestowments,  and  that  noth- 
ing within  their  power  was  withheld  from  the  Church 
and  its  ministers. 

To  his  logical  mind  there  should  have  been  some 

adequate  return  for  all  these  bestowments  by  the  people. 

iw   that   they   were   instructed  in  pious  processes, 

!    say    their   prayers  and   perform    their   religious 

ceremonies    in    a   foreign   and  to   them    unintelligible 

tongue,  could   cross  themselves  and  reverence  all  con- 

ons  and  places.     He  saw  that  some  of  the 

red  or  talented  were  more  extensively  educated, 
especially  when  they  had  the  means  to  recompense 
their  instructors. 

He  saw  more,  and  that  was  that  the  officials  of  the 

Church  had  u  urped  the  control  of  political  affairs,  that 

they  had  set  up  and  sustained  state  officials  who  were 

favor  oi  centralism,  and  that  they  had  opposed  and 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  iri 

overthrown  all  who  were  in  favor  of  popular  rights, 
education  and  equality. 

While  he  had  occasion,  had  his  ambition  and 
vanity  prompted  it  to  thank  them  for  the  overthrow  of 
the  patriot,  Comoufort,  which  act  made  him  presi- 
dent, he  was  painfully  aware  that  they  were  his  ene- 
mies, even  to  death. 

But  the  greedy  and  corrupt  Church  had  met  her 
match  and  the  end  proved  that  she  had  met  her  fate. 
The  fearless,  stubborn,  incorruptible  Indian  president 
was  a  practical  statesman  and  patriot,  if  not  a  practical 
soldier,  and  so  presented  and  sustained  the  rights  of  his 
office  and  the  principles  of  his  decrees  in  councils  of 
state  and  on  fields  of  contest  from  the  time  of  their 
issuance  in  1859  to  1S72,  the  time  of  his  death,  that 
they  were  incorporated  in  the  constitution  by  amend- 
ment in  1873,  and  they  are  still  the  fundamental  law  of 
Mexico,  with  no  tendency  to  their  repeal. 

Although  the  Liberals  were  few  in  number,  the 
good  qualities  of  their  leader  and  president  had  captured 
the  confidence  and  fealty  of  the  people,  as  he  offered 
liberty  from  the  oppressions  of  the  clergy  and  the  rich 
proprietors  of  the  lands.  The  result  was  a  repetition  of 
the  grand  popular  movement  of  18 10,  when  the  multi- 
tudes flocked  to  the  standard  of  Hidalgo  and  his  suc- 
cessors, though  the  circumstances  were  vastly  changed. 
Then  it  was  a  movement  to  overthrow  the  government; 
now,  it  was  to  sustain  the  government  and  the  constitu- 
tion. Then  the  leader  was  of  a  vacillating  disposition 
who,  when  he  had  the  City  of  Mexico  in  sight  and  at 
his  feet,  lacked  the  decision  of  character  to  secure  the 
prize  and  establish  his  principles  in  the  form  of  a  new 


152 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS 


government.     Now  the  leader  was  a  man  of  stubborn 
will  with  clear  perceptions  and  established  policies. 

The  army  of  Juarez  was  re-enforced  by  guerillas 
from  the  plains  and  the  mountains.  When  defeated  in 
one  action,  the}'  dispersed,  only  to  reunite  on  other 
fields.     With    no    baggage    trains   nor   artillery    they 


JlARlv/.. 


ted  rapid  and  secret  movements.  With  success 
their  aumDers  increased,  and  eventually  by  capture  and 
I"1"  hase  ''icy  had  all  the  required  munitions  of  war  and 

red  final  victory. 

The   army    of  Zuloaga    was    large  and  well    com- 


FROM  C0R1EZ  10  DIAZ.  153 

manded   and  had  for  a  time  abundant  means  supplied 
from  the  coffers  of  the  Church. 

Inasmuch  as  the  wealth  of  the  country  was  con- 
centrated in  the  hands  of  the  Church,  it  was  largely 
from  that  source  that  the  armies  in  the  field  secured 
financial  aid.  To  the  revolutionists,  as  the  party  upon 
which  the  Church  depended  for  further  power,  assist- 
ance was  cheerfully  extended.  But  the  Liberals  were 
also  necessitous,  and  the  following  from  the  Spanish 
history  of  the  times  will  show  to  some  extent  their 
method  of  supplying  their  wants. 

"Stimulated  more  and  more  by  necessity  the 
Liberals  were  not  limited  in  their  efforts  to  secure  funds 
from  real  estate,  tithes  and  other  sources,  but  boldly 
possessed  themselves  of  the  ornaments  and  sacred 
images  and  vases  from  the  altars.  At  first  this  caused 
no  small  fear  at  the  crime  which  had  been  perpetrated, 
imbued  as  the  people  had  been  from  their  childhood 
with  superstitious  reverence;  and  a  cry  of  horror  was 
raised  by  all  classes,  particularly  by  the  Conservatives, 
who  threatened  the  perpetrators  with  divine  wrath  as 
the  consequence  of  their  sacrilege.  However,  as  none 
of  the  threatened  vengeance  from  heaven  followed,  the 
people  little  by  little  had  their  fears  dissipated,  and  as 
the  profanations  filled  the  Liberal  treasury,  it  also 
served  to  dispel  the  odor  of  sanctity  which  surrounded 
the  sacred  temples. "     *     *     *     *  j 

"The  Conservatives,  seeing  the  exemption  from  the! 
threatened   consequences,   were    emboldened;  and  they 
also,  but  with  limited  excesses,  replenished  their  trc, 
uries  from  the  same  sources,  when  excessively   nece  - 
sitous  " 


CHAPTER  XII. 


1859  TO  i860. 

Continued  War — Executive  Changes  With  Revc- 
i.itiomsts — Defeat  of  Centralism — Juarez 
Enters  the  Capital  in  Triumph  —  No  Church 
Reception  nor  Te  Deum. 

WHEN  Juarez  left  the  Pacific  coast  in  April,  1858, 
he  disclosed'  his  plans  to  no  one.  So  his 
appearance  at  Vera  Cruz  was  a  great  surprise 
to  all.  He  took  with  him  no  army,  and  when  he 
issued  his  proclamations,  the  chief  force  behind  him  was 
the  moral  power  which  attached  to  the  office  of  presi- 
dent in  its  relation  to  the  constitution.  This  was 
counteracted  by  the  manifest  success  of  the  revolution, 

I  upou  the  plan  of  Tacubaya,  the  occupancy  of  the 
capita]  by  Zuloaga  as  provisional  president,  and  the 
victories  of  the  revolutionists  in  the  field. 

The  Revolutionary  or  Conservative  army  occupied 
most  of    tlic-    central   states  with  no  very  considerable 

titutional  army  to  oppose.  The  northern  states 
apparent!  taking  no  part  in  the  struggle,  and 

there  remained  to  Juarez  only  a  small  part  of  the  state 
"t  Vera  Cruz,  as  Orizaba  and  Jalapa,  cities  which  con- 
trolled t!  and  mountain  passes  into  the  interior, 
in  the  hands  ol  the  Conservatives.  But  when  the 
information  that  Juarez  had  established  his  govern- 
ment at  Vera  Cruz  and  had  declared  his  plan  of  contest 


'FROM  CCRTEZ   'JO  DIAZ.  155 

was  made  known  throughout  the  country,  the  old 
Liberals  and  Constitutionalists  in  all  parts  began  to 
organize  for  his  support. 

Under  the  influence  of  Liberal  generals  armies  of 
greater  or  less  proportions  were  mustered  and  put  into 
the  field  to  operate  upon  the  most  feasible  plans  pre- 
sented to  effect  the  purpose  of  securing  the  success  of 
Juarez  and  the  constitution. 

The  lines  were  closely  drawn  and  all  the  horrors  of 
fratricidal  war  with  its  sanguinary  reprisals  were  perpe- 
trated. It  became  a  rule,  followed  on.  all  occasions,  to 
put  to  death  all  chiefs  and  important  persons  who  were 
unfortunate  enough  to  be  captured,  and  often  the  pri- 
vates from  the  ranks  suffered  the  same  fate.  Cities 
were  captured  and  recaptured,  alternately  suffering 
spoliation  with  each  change  of  military  masters. 

Seeing  his  opportunity  General  Blanco,  a  Liberal 
commander,  made  a  raid  upon  the  City  of  Mexico  in 
October,  captured  the  place  and  sacked  some  of  the  rich 
convents,  but  he  was  met  by  superior  numbers  and 
obliged  to  retire  with  loss.  In  November  Perote  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Conservatives,  who  promptly 
executed  all  persons  of  rank  there  captured.  The  re- 
sults of  the  year's  campaign  were  greatly  in  favor  of 
the  Conservatives  and  the  prospects  of  Juarez  were 
indeed  gloomy. 

Zuloaga  gave  command  to  concentrate  forces  upon 
Vera  Cruz  for  its  capture  and  depended  upon  Eche- 
agaray,  governor  of  the  state  of  Puebla,  to  carry  the 
order  into  effect.  But  that  officer  who  had  given  re- 
luctant support  to  the  plan  of  Tacubaya,  instead  of 
moving  against  the  city  of  Vera  Cruz,  on  the  20th  of 
December,  1S5S,  pronounced  against  any  further  war- 


i56  1I1SI ( )R  V  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

fart.-,  declaring  that  whichever  party  succeeded  by  war, 
it  all  resulted  in  irreparable  injury  to  the  common- 
wealth of  Mexico.  He  therefore  issued  a  call  for  a  con- 
vention, to  be  composed  of  deputies  from  the  several 
states  which  should  form  a  new  constitution  and  elect  a 
president  in  the  interest  of  peace. 

The  army  at  the  capital  gave  support  to  this  cad, 
and  it  all  resulted  in  the  selecting  of  Robles  Pezuela  as 
provisional  president.  Zuloaga  graciously  yielded  to 
this  movement  and  the  convention  proceeded  with  its 
work  under  Pezuela  as  presiding  officer. 

These  proceedings  suspended  the  proposed  attack 
upon  Vera  Cruz,  which  was  certainly  of  great  benefit  to 
Juarez,  who  was  not  prepared  for  it.  It  was  considered 
by  many  Conservatives  at  the  time  that  this  action  of 
Echeagaray  was  at  the  instigation  of  Juarez  himself,  as 
it  was  his  policy  to  have  emmissaries  constantly  in  the 
enemies  camps  and  councils. 

When  the  constitutional  convention  finished  its 
work  in  January,  1859,  it  elected  General  Miramon 
lint  and  Robles  Pezuela  vice-president.  Miramon, 
who  was  in  command  of  the  troops  in  the  field,  went  to 
tin-  capita]  ami  declared  that  the  army  was  in  honor 
bound  to  support  Zuloaga  who,  if  he  had  failed  in  any 
matter,  should  not  be  held  to  account  as  it  was  for  want 

upport  from  Echeagaray  and  others. 

II<-  therefore  declared  Zuloaga  still  to  be  president 
and  returned  to  the  army  in  the  field.  Zuloaga,  how- 
feeling  that  he  was  placed  in  a  false  position,  de- 
clined  tin-  further  exercise  of  the  duties  of  the  office 
eight  days  afterwards,  appointed  Miramon  as  his  sub- 
•tute,  and  retired  to  private  life.  Miramon,  probably 
eeing  the  course   that   Zuloaga    wouh'  take,  named 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  157 

his  cabinet,  ordered  a  forced  loan  of  1  per  cent  upon  all 
the  property  in  the  country  and  moved  immediately 
against  Vera  Cruz,  deeming  the  possession  of  that  city 
and  the  capture  of  Juarez,  or  the  dispersal  of  his  gov- 
ernment of  the  greatest  importance.  He  there,  on  the 
16th  of  February,  concentrated  his  forces  for  the  attack. 

In  the  meantime  Kuglish  and  French  squadrons 
had  appeared  in  the  harbor  at  Vera  Cruz,  making 
demand  for  the  payment  of  so  much  of  the  national 
debt  of  Mexico  as  was  due  to  citizens  of  their  respective 
countries  and  indemnity  for  outrages.  Juarez  made 
promises  of  ample  satisfaction,  which  relieved  him  in 
that  matter,  and  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  mili- 
tary assaults  of  Miramon,  which  were  actively  begun 
on  the  12th  of  March. 

Notwithstanding  the  resistance  made  by  the  con- 
stitutional forces,  it  seemed  that  the  city  must  jdeld, 
when  fortunately  the  assulting  forces  suddenly  aban- 
doned their  positions  and  marched  for  the  capital.  The 
cause  of  this  retreat  was  that  the  Liberals  had  gained 
some  victories  in  the  north  and  center,  and  with  con- 
centrated forces  were  marching  rapidly  upon  the  capital 
with  the  double  purpose  of  capturing  that  city  and  re- 
lieving Juarez. 

The  garrison  of  the  city  was  surprised  by  the  sudden 
appearance  at  its  front  of  8,000  men.  But  the  Liberal 
general  in  command  neglected  to  enter  and  contented 
himself  with  fortifying  at  Tacubaya  and  Chapultepec. 
In  the  meantime  re-enforcements  came  to  the  relief  of 
the  Conservatives,  who  were  then  enabled  to  take  the 
field  and  attack  the  enemy.  The  result  was  the  defeat 
of  the  Liberals,  who  lost  a  great  part  of  their  artillery. 

Miramon    arrived  on  the  field  at  the  close  of  the 


15S  HISTOK  } '  OF  MEXICAN  POL ITICS, 

battle  and  assumed  to  himself  credit  for  the  victory, 
sacrificed  the  lives  of  all  the  officers  who  had  been  taken 
prisoners  and  at  the  same  time,  to  the  great  disgrace  of 
himself  and  his  officers,  put  to  death  many  medical 
students  who  were  voluntarily  assisting  in  the  care  of 
the  wounded  on  the  field.  Taking  advantage  of  the 
withdrawal  of  troops  from  many  central  points  for  the 
relief  of  the  capital,  the  Liberals  captured  and  sacked 
many  cities  and  strongholds. 

The  Spanish  citizens  who  resided  in  Tampico  made 
complaint  to  their  government  that  they  had  sustained 
losses  in  the  nature  of  forced  loans  and  outrages  at  the 
hands  of  the  contending  Mexican  factions  in  their 
internecine  struggles.  To  secure  a  reparation  for  such 
outrages,  a  Spanish  vessel  of  war  appeared  at  Vera  Cruz, 
demanding  satisfaction  and  guarantees.  These  demands 
were  complied  with  by  Juarez,  as  far  as  possible,  with 
promises  and  diplomacy.  About  the  same  time  the 
Miramon  administration  entered  into  a  treaty  with 
Spain,  through  the  Spanish  minister  and  General 
Almonte,    whereby    demands   of   Spanish    subjects    for 

:nations,  outrages  and  compulsory  loans  agreed  to 
under  the  Santa  Anna  regime  in  1S53,  were  assumed  by 
the  Mexican  government,  and  negotiations  were  begun 
by  which  assistance  was  to  be  rendered  the  Miramon 
administration  in  the  nature  of  a  European  protectorate 
over  Mexico. 

These  measures  were  strongly  opposed  by  the 
minister  from  the  United  States,  who  declared  the  ex- 
istance  ami  vitality  of  the  "Monroe  Doctrine."  In 
April,  [859,  the  United  States  withdrew  its  recognition 
from  the  revolutionary  government  and  transferred  it  to 
Juarez.      Tins  was  a  great  aid  to  him  in  its  moral  force 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  159 

and  materially  assisted  him  in  securing  loans,  arms, 
munitions  and  troops,  and  gave  encouragement  through- 
out Mexico  to  the  loyal  people  and  developed  support 
to  the  constitutional  government. 

In  October,  1S59,  Miramon  made  a  loan  through  a 
banking  house,  the  head  of  which,  originally  a  native 
of  Switzerland,  had  become  a  naturalized  French  citizen. 
This  loan  was  for  the  sum  of  $15,000,000,  and  sub- 
sequent developments  show  that  it  was  a  part  of  a 
scheme  laid  in  view  of  the  possible  failure  of  the  Church 
party  in  their  fight  against  Juarez  and  the  constitutional 
government,  whereby  they  could  call  the  aid  of  the 
French  emperor  and  army  to  finally  establish  centralism 
in  Mexico. 

The  holy  alliance,  the  L,atin  union  and  the  gov- 
ernments in  Europe,  whose  sovereigns  were  Roman 
Catholics,  had  been  fully  apprised  of  the  issues  and  of 
their  opportunities  by  emissaries  who  for  years  had  been 
at  work  at  home  and  abroad  to  secure  the  overthrow  of 
Republicanism  and  the  establishment  of  centralism,  and 
when  the  time  came  they  were  not  delinquent  as  re- 
enforcements. 

The  last  part  of  1S59  was  dark  for  the  Juarez  troops. 
During  the  year  they  had  victories  and  defeats  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  country,  but  at  its  close  they  were  most 
frequently  defeated.  Seventy  or  more  battles  had  been 
fought  since  the  commencement  of  the  war  in  which 
the  Liberals  had  been  defeated  in  more  than  three- 
fourths  of  the  engagements.  Still  their  forces  were 
tenacious  and  inspired  with  hope  when  they  remem- 
bered that  it  took  ten  years  to  secure  the  independence 
of  the  country.  The  motto  of  Juarez  was:  "Thus  we  go 
from  defeat  to  defeat  on  to  ultimate  victory.'' 


i6o  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

Miramon  was  an  inspiring  genius  to  the  Conserva- 
tives and  a  good  general  in  the  field  who  kept  his  forces 
compact.  The  clergy  never  failed  hini,  and  in  their 
ecclesiastical  offices  and  opportunities  endeavored  to 
inaugurate  a  religious  crusade;  and  in  turn  the  bishops 
and  other  clergy  of  high  order  and  influence  were  sub- 
jected to  extortion,  and  in  some  cases  to  banishment 
from  their  fields  of  duty  as  acts  of  retaliation  on  the  part 
of  the  Liberals. 

Miramon  had  success  in  the  north  and  the  east  in 
[859,  so  to  complete  the  work  he  made  preparations  to 
attack  Vera  Cruz.  He  sent  to  Havana  and  purchased 
two  steam  vessels  and  loaded  them  with  materials  of 
war.  They  were  to  bombard  the  city  from  the  gulf 
while  he  operated  by  land.  He  concentrated  7,000  men 
near  the  cit\  in  February,  and  early  in  March  the  ships 
of  war  appeared  at  the  port,  freighted  with  supplies. 
The  squadrons  from  other  nations  were  reluctant  to  give 
place  to  the  tres]  assers,  as  they  were  considered  semi- 
piratical,  not  having  papers  for  their  class  or  purpose. 

\t  the  request  of  Juarez  the  commander  of  the 
United  States  squadron  sought  to  examine  into  the 
irity  of  their  papers,  when  he  was  fired  on.  Deem- 
ing tins  a<  t  sufficient  to  subject  the  matter  to  further  in- 
quiry, he  seized  the  ships  and  took  them  to  New  Or- 
prizes.     On   final  investigation  they  were  re- 

I,  as  was  expected  by  Juarez;  but  their  hostile 
attacks,  notwithstanding,  were  avoided;  and  for  want  of 
their  aid    and    th  ■    materials   of   war  which   they   cou- 

I,  Miramon  failed  in  the  attack. 

<  >n  the  seizure  of  the  ships  the  commander  of  the 
British  squadron  offered  his  mediation  in  the  interest  of 
the  merchants  of  the  city,  whose  loss  would  be  serious 


FKO.ir  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  161 

and  unavoidable  in  case  of  bombardment.  At  his  sug- 
gestion an  armistice  was  agreed  to,  and  an  assembly  of 
prominent  citizens  of  Mexico  was  convened  to  consider 
some  plan  whereby  the  contest  could  be  settled. 

This  assembly  proposed  to  call  a  convention  of  rep- 
resentatives from  the  several  states  to  form  a  new  consti- 
tution, that  should  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people 
with  a  provisional  government  in  the  interim.  Juarez 
took  the  ground  that  the  country  had  a  constitution  and 
a  government,  and  he  insisted  on  calling  a  congress, 
according  to  the  constitution  of  1857. 

This  being  his  ultimatum,  Miramon  announced  the 
commencement  of  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  siege 
and  bombardment.  Accordingly,  he  used  all  of  his  ma- 
terials of  war  upon  the  city  from  pure  malice,  as  he  had 
no  intention  to  assault.  Having  exhausted  his  ammu- 
nition and  suffered  much  from  want  of  supplies  and 
from  sickness  among  his  troops,  he  abandoned  his  posi- 
tions 011  the  21st  of  March  and  moved  toward  the  capi- 
tal, ordering  his  officers  to  their  old  posts  throughout 
the  country. 

This  retreat  from  Vera  Cruz  inspired  the  liberals 
with  new  life  and  hopes;  and  under  a  vigorous  system 
of  operations,  many  cities  were  captured  and  many 
states  fully  occupied.  Miramon  was, however,  not  idle, 
and  after  his  retreat  from  Vera  Cruz  he  made  prepara- 
tions to  open  the  campaign  against  the  liberals  in  the 
center  and  north. 

Just  at  this  time  Zuloaga  proclaimed  his  resump- 
tion of  the  presidency,  basing  the  act  upon  the  fact  that 
Miramon,  who  was  but  his  substitute,  had  exceeded  his 
authority  in  negotiating  the  loan  from  the  Swiss- French 
house.     But  the  truth  of  the  matter  was,  he  wished  to 


1 62  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

regain  the  power  and  office  from  which  he  had  been 
displaced;  and  deemed  the  present  time,  when  Miramon 
was  suffering  in  reputation  from  his  reverse  at  Vera 
Cruz,  to  be  a  proper  opportunity,  he  accordingly  im- 
proved it  and  resumed  his  office.  But  his  plans  were 
not  laid  with  wisdom,  as  Miramon  had  not  become  un- 
popular, nor  had  he  himself  secured  the  confidence  of 
his  party  nor  the  people. 

Miramon,  active  as  ever,  moved  rapidly  to  the 
capital  at  the  head  of  the  army,  and  after  a  personal 
altercation  with  Zuloaga,  arrested  him,  and  then  con- 
tinued his  inarch  against  the  enemy,  carrying  the 
prisoner  with  him.  This  conduct  on  the  part  of  each 
showed  that  the  loyalty  of  Miramon  and  the  abnegation 
of  Zuloaga,  as  exhibited  a  year  previously,  were  founded 
in  deceit  and  insincerity. 

The  diplomatic  corps  in  Mexico  sustained  Zuloaga, 
as  the  true  president,  the  one  with  whom  they  had 
transacted  all  business  in  the  interest  of  their  respective 
countries.  The  Spanish  minister  took  action  to  sustain 
him  and  thus  conserve  the  peace  of  the  country  and  se- 
cure the  benefits  which  resulted  from  dealing  with  the 
president,  and  not  a  substitute,  in  which  relation  he 
viewed  "the  position  of  Miramon.  But  it  was  all  in 
vain,  and  only  laid  the  foundation  for  radical  action  on 
the  part  of  Miramon  a  few  months  afterwards,  when  he 
made  a  forced  loan. 

Willi  the  captive  Zuloaga  under  arrest,  Miramon 
and  the  army  arrived  at  Leon,  where  the  prisoner  made 
M  name  hi,  not  knowing  the  whereabouts  or 
intentions  <>f  the  fugitive,  lost  no  time  in  submitting  the 
matter  at  issue  to  the  president  of  the  supreme  court  of 
justice,  Don  Jo.se  Ignatio  Pavon.     He  in  turn  took  the 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  163 

opinion  of  the  councils  of  the  states,  and  Miramon  was 
declared  to  be  the  president.  Miramon  then  with  a 
gracious  spirit  turned  the  executive  office  over  to  the 
president  ot  the  court,  as  had  been  done  in  similar  cases 
before.  That  officer  immediately  convened  representa- 
tives from  the  states  which  had  been  parties  to  the  elec- 
tion of  president  in  January,  1859,  and  which  had  put 
into  force  the  principles  of  the  conservative  party.  This 
body,  by  a  vote  of  nineteen  to  four,  favored  Miramon, 
who  was  then  declared  to  be  president,  to  the  exclusion 
of  Zuloaga. 

Miramon  in  the  meantime,  with  an  army  of  7,000 
men,  marched  upon  Siloa,  where  General  Jesus  Gonza- 
les Ortega  had  concentrated  the  liberal  forces.  A  battle 
took  place  on  the  10th  of  August,  when  Miramon  was 
defeated  with  the  loss  of  all  his  artillery  and  trains,  and 
the  capture  of  many  generals,  colonels  and  other  officers, 
together  with  a  great  part  of  his  army.  The  star  of 
Miramon  was  becoming  obscured. 

However,  when  he  returned  to  the  capital  he  was  re- 
ceived as  if  a  victor,  and  he  immediately  took  the  oath  of 
office  as  president  under  the  new  election.  Zuloaga  was 
again  permitted  to  retire  to  private  life. 

Ortega  having  defeated  Miramon,  prepared  to  move 
upon  the  capital.  In  anticipation  of  final  success  he  is- 
sued a  circular,  directed  to  the  representatives  of  foreign 
governments  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  in  which  he  made 
known  his  determination  to  occupy  the  capital;  he  also 
informed  them  that  under  no  pretext  would  any  recla- 
mations be  allowed  for  supplies  furnished  or  loans  made 
to  the  conservatives. 

The  situation  of  the  conservatives  was  indeed  criti- 
cal, as  only  three  grand  centers  of  population  were  now 


164  HISTOR  3 '  t >F  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

under  their  control — Guadalajara,  Puebla,  and  the  City 
of  Mexico;  and  they  were  also  seriously  divided  by 
factions.  That  he  might  leave  no  hostile  force  in  his 
rear  Ortega  moved  upon  Guadalajara,  and  after  a  siege 
of  some  weeks  reduced  that  place,  when  he  marched 
with  his  united  army  upon  the  City  of  Mexico.  He  di- 
rected his  march  to  the  eastward,  so  as  to  interpose  be- 
tween the  capital  and  Vera  Cruz. 

Intrepid  as  ever,  Miramon  displayed  the  same  ener- 
getic spirit  by  which  he  had  sustained  himself  until  the 
present  time  in  his  meteoric  career.  Notwithstanding 
that  he  was  surrounded  by  people  who  were  filled  with 
consternation,  he  redoubled  his  efforts  to  maintain  a 
cause  which  was  at  the  point  of  collapse.  He  secured 
funds  by  forced  loans  and  sequestrations,  and  had  no 

id  for  safeguards  furnished  by  ministers  of 
foreign  countries.  He  moved  to  the  field  with  a  new 
army,  composed  of  the  troops  taken  from  surrounding 
garrisons.  At  Toluca  he  gained  a  victory  over  Berioza- 
ble,  and  captured  General  Degollado  and  the  citizen- 
statesman,  Gome/.  Farias. 

Inspired  by  these  successes  Miramon  determined  to 
march  against  Ortega,  who  had  concentrated  16,000 
nun  and  had  more  than  forty  pieces  of  artillery.  To 
confront  this  force,  he  had  but  little  more  than  half  that 
number  of  men.  The  rrmies  met  in  the  final  battle  at 
Calpulalpan;  and  after  an  engagement,  which  lasted 
from  the  21st  to  the  23d  of  December,  Miramon  was  de- 

!,   to  the   utter  destruction  of  his   hopes  and  the 

throw  of  the  cause  of  centralism.  lie  returned 
rapidly  to  the  capital,  turned  civil  affairs  over  to  the 
and  made  his  escape  to  the  coast,  where 
he  took  refuge  on  board  a  French  vessel  of  war.         .._. 


FROM  CORTEZ   10   DIAZ.  165 

The  victorious  constitutional  army,  which  was  now 
increased  to  25,000  men,  marched  immediately  for  the 
capital,  which  it  entered  on  the  27th  of  December.  It 
was  received  with  applause  by  the  citizens,  who  had 
adorned  the  streets  and  houses  with  garlands;  and  the 
heroes  were  greeted  with  a  perfect  rain  of  flowers. 

On  the  1st  day  of  January,  1861,  President  Juarez 
arrived  at  the  capital,  and  his  welcome  was  a  grand 
ovation,  and  such  a  one  as  was  due  to  the  president  of 
the  republic  of  Mexico.  It  was  notable,  however,  that 
the  Church  greeted  him  with  no  imposing  ceremonies, 
and  no  Tc  Dcum  was  let  loose. 


166  HIS'l  OR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


i860  TO  1863. 

Juarez  in  the  Capital — Elected  President — En- 
forces Reforms — Suppresses  Religious  Orders 
Jewels  to  Treasury — Bells  to  Foundry — Pic- 
tures to  Academy  of  Art — Public  Debt — Pay- 
ment Suspended — Treaty  of  London — Allied 
Occupation — Spanish  and  English  Withdrawn 
— French  Remain — Cinco  de  Mayo — French 
Defeated — Puebla  Finally  Captured. 

THE  triumphant  entrance  of  Juarez  into  the  capital 
was  full  evidence  of  the  overthrow  of  centralism 
and  the  establishment  of  Republicanism  as  the 
organic  and  fundamental  principle  of  government.  This 
the  people  of  Mexico  had  decided  in  the  most  emphatic 
and  unmistakable  manner.  The  lines  had  been  closely 
drawn,  the  issues  made  up,  the  forces,  both  civil  and 
military  mustered,  and  the  battle  fought  to  a  finish. 
The  Church  had  lost  and  the  state  had  won. 

With  an  honest  desire  that  the  full  results  of  victory 
m i ^  1 1 1  be  decreed  and  decided  by  civil  processes  as  well 
as  on  the  field  of  battle,  Juarez  called  an  election  for 
idenl  in  accordance  with  the  constitution.  His 
tenure  oi  office  was  in  a  sense  accidental,  and  he  deter- 
mined not  to  hold  it  longer  unless  the  people  by  an  ex- 


FROM  C0R1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  im- 

pression of  their  wishes,  made  in  accordance  with  the 
organic  law,  so  decided.  It  was  in  the  issue  that  the 
election  of  Juarez  for  president  meant  the  enforcement 
of  his  decrees  of  July,  1859,  published  at  Vera  Cruz. 

Juarez  was  elected,  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  as 
instructed  at  the  polls  proceeded  immediately  to  the 
sequestration  of  Church  property  and  to  the  disbanding 
of  ecclesiastical  societies.  Monasteries  were  closed  and 
the  members  of  the  various  religious  orders  and  socie- 
ties were  expelled  from  the  country,  force  being  used 
when  necessary.  Bells  were  taken  from  church  towers 
and  sent  to  foundries  to  be  cast  into  cannon  for  the  use 
of  the  state.  Jewels  and  massive  chandeliers  of  gold 
and  silver  were  converted  into  money  for  the  treasury, 
and  pictures  were  sent  to  the  San  Carlos  Academy  of 
Art.  Buildings  were  sold  and  streets  were  opened 
through  church  property  for  the  use  of  the  public.  It 
is  estimated  that  from  the  property  thus  sequestrated 
the  government  secured  the  sum  of  $20,000,000. 

The  era  of  reform  had  fully  come,  and  though  the 
measures  were  radical  they  had  been  called  for,  first  by 
reason  of  the  extortions  to  which  the  people  had  been 
subjected  by  the  insatiable  greed  of  the  clergy  for 
centuries,  and  second  by  the  decrees  of  war  and  of  civil 
proceedure.  That  which  came  to  the  public  treasury 
was  only  a  small  part,  a  mere  tithe  of  what  had  been 
wrongfully  taken  from  the  people. 

This  struggle  between  the  constitutional  govern- 
ment and  the  Church  party  and  its  allies  is  known  in 
Mexican  history  by  the  name  of  the  "War  of  the  Re- 
form," and  has  made  "Iva  Reforma"  a  favorite  appella- 
tion. By  it  the  outreaching  power,  influence  and 
domination   of    the    Church    was    suppressed    and    the 


t  6S  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

supremacy  of  the  state  and  of  the  people  was  assured. 
The  constitutional  reforms  which  took  place  at  that  time 
are  annually  celebrated  in  Mexico  on  the  5th  of 
February,  and  as  a  perpetual  memorial  of  the  beneficent 
era,  the  beautiful  Paseo  which  extends  from  the  center 
of  the  city  to  Chapultepec,  though  planned  and  laid  out 
by  the  Emperor  Maximiilian,  has  been  adopted  by  the 
people  to  show  by  its  use  and  beauty  that  grand  time 
in  the  history  of  the  country.  It  is  now  called  the 
"Paseo  de  la  Reforma." 

But  the  Church  party  had  allies  who  were  not  citi- 
zens of  Mexico,  who  when  needed  came  to  its  aid.  The 
oft  recurring  matter  of  the  foreign  debt  came  up  again, 
and  inasmuch  as  the  Juarez  government  was  fully 
established,  and  its  acts  and  decisions  would  be  final 
and  binding,  it  becameaduty  to  examine  carefully  into 
any  and  all  claims  presented  for  payment. 

The  English  had  from  the  first  days  of  independ- 
ence  been  the  creditors  of  Mexico,  and  the  alleged 
amount  due  to  or  claimed  by  citizens  of  England  was 
about  Sso, 000,000.  Spain  had  some  claims,  mainly 
mowledged  by  Miramon,  while  French  citizens 
held  the  loan  negotiated  by  Miramon  and  other  de- 
mand-, of  doubtful  nature.      Many  of  these   claims  were 

lated  as  a  part  of  a  deep  laid  scheme,  whereby 
friends  of  the  holy  alliance  could  have  foundation  for 
the  necessity  and  propriety  of  an  European 
tion  in  the  affairs  of  Mexico,  under  the  mask 
of  business  and  financial  negotiations  and  demands. 
The  total  amount  claimed  by  citizens  of  the  named 
nations  was  aboul   $IO<  >,<  xjo.ooo. 

That  he  tnighl  have  time  to  investigate  these  claims 
and  sei  me  funds  for  the  payment  of  such  as  should  be 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  169 

proved  to  be  just,  Juarez,  soon  after  he  was  established 
in  tbe  executive  department  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  by 
direction  of  congress  issued  a  decree  in  which  he  sus- 
pended payment  upon  the  foreign  debt  for  the  term  of 
two  years. 

About  the  same  time  the  French  minister,  Saligny, 
claimed  that  he  was  the  victim  of  an  attempted  assault 
by  being  fired  at  while  seated  on  the  terrace  before  the 
French  legation,  and  assuming  that  it  was  an  inten- 
tional offense,  demanded  his  passports.  England  and 
Spain  also  suspended  diplomatic  relations  with  Mexico. 

Napoleon  III.,  emperor  of  France,  then  proceeded 
to  execute  a  plan  which  for  many  years  had  prevailed 
in  his  intentions,  and  in  which  he  had  been  encouraged 
by  emissaries  from  Mexico,  some  of  them  representing 
the  centralist  government  directly,  and  some  the  Church 
interest  alone.  Among  the  number  was  one  Senor  Jose 
Maria  Gutierrez  de  Estrada,  who  in  1840  left  Mexico  as 
an  exile  for  having  disagreed  with  the  republican,  and 
suggested  an  imperial  form  of  government.  Another 
was  Labastida,  bishop  of  Puebla,  whom  Comonfort  had 
exiled  for  the  part  which  he  took  in  a  revolution  in  1856. 

To  these  it  was  clear  that  Juarez  would  continue 
his  republican  policies  and  thereby  insure  the  political 
death  of  the  clerical  party.  It  meant  primary  educa- 
tion of  the  people,  a  long  forbidden  right,  as  enforced  in 
clerical  rule,  the  recognition  of  the  political  rights  of 
each  individual  which  had  been  held  by  the  clergy  as 
"a  da  nnable  heresy,"  the  disestablishment  of  the 
Church,  the  encouragetn  nt  of  immigration,  and  there- 
with the  dissemination  of  independent  thought;  all  of 
which  was  a  program  of  progress  which  was  sure  to 
prove  the  dsathblow  to  ecclesiastical  dominion. 


r  7o  HIS 7  OR  V  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

By  processes  not  fully  disclosed  except  in  the 
accomplishment,  the  Church  in  Europe  concentrated 
upon  a  plan  of  action  wherein  the  French  emperor  took 
the  initiative  in  the  conspiracy  which  was  to  result  in 
the  overthrow  of  Republicanism  and  the  establishment 
of  an  empire  in  Mexico  which,  while  it  would  be  in 
some  degree  feudatory  to  France,  would  as  a  much  more 
desirable  object  assist  the  Latin  race  in  the  struggle  with 
the  Anglo  Saxon,  sustain  Catholicism  and  prevent  the 
further  spread  of  Democratic  doctrines  and  institutions 
in  America. 

The  time  chosen  to  put  this  scheme  into  operation 
was  certainly  most  propitious.  The  United  States  was 
then  engaged  in  civil  war,  and  to  the  view  of  the  Euro- 
pean conspirators,  the  confederates  would  succeed  in 
the  contest.  When  that  consummation,  so  devoutly 
hoped  for  should  be  realized,  the  Confederate  States 
government  was  to  be  the  ally  of  the  proposed  empire, 
as  against  the  United  States  and  its  international 
policies. 

<  )r  if  the  government  at  Washington  should  be 
maintained  and  no  separation  of  the  Union  take  place, 
the  war  would  so  absorb  the  attention  and  military  re- 
sources of  the  country  that  the  Catholic  Latin  empire 
coming  out  of  and  closely  related  to  the  courts  of 
Europe  could  be  organized  and  firmly  consolidated,  and 
thus  the  influence  of  the  United  States  be  effectually 
i  he<  ked  towards  the  south. 

Napoleon,  however,  did  not  at  the  time  disclose  his 
schemes  nor  his  allies  therein,  but  acted  on  the  plausible 
business  pretext  presented  in  the  fact  that  the  debtor 
nation,  Mexico,  had  refused  to  provide  for  the  payment 
of  its  obligations.      At  his  instance  a  convention  of  rep- 


FROM  CORTEZ   TO  DIAZ.  ,7i 

resentatives,  from  the  three  creditor  nations,  was  held 
in  London.  The  result  was  the  "Treaty  of  London," 
signed  on  the  31st  of  October,  1861.  The  treaty  pro- 
vided for  the  concentration  of  a  military  and  naval  force 
sufficient  to  possess  and  hold  all  ports  of  entry  on  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  to  collect  and  apply  the  revenues 
to  the  payment  of  the  claims  of  citizens  of  the  three 
blockading  nations.  It  was  also  stipulated  that  no  at- 
tempt should  be  made  to  interfere  with  the  government 
nor  the  territory  of  Mexico. 

A  copy  of  the  treaty  was  sent  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States  with  a  request  for  its  co-operation;  but 
the  secretary  of  state  gave  a  very  decided  reply,  in  which 
it  was  not  only  announced  that  the  project  was  distaste- 
ful to  the  president,  but  also  a  violation  of  the  interna- 
tional policy  of  the  union. 

Regardless,  however,  of  the  views  of  the  American 
executive,  as  well  as  the  policies  of  the  nation,  the 
allied  forces  under  command  of  the  Spanish  marshal, 
Prim,  lauded  at  Vera  Cruz  in  December,  1861,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  carry  out  the  proposed  plans.  There  were 
800  British,  2,600  French,  and  6,200  Spanish  troops, 
constituting  a  combined  army  of  9,600  men. 

Coincident  with  the'  landing  of  the  allies  at  Vera 
Cruz,  there  returned  to  Mexico  a  number  of  the  former 
leaders  of  the  clerical  party,  who,  assured  and  embold- 
ened by  the  presence  of  the  allied  army,  proclaimed  the 
secret  of  their  foreign  mission  and  its  ends,  and  thus  an- 
nounced the  conspiracy  which  had  up  to  that  time  re- 
mained locked  up  in  the  minds  of  a  few.  They  disclosed 
the  plan  of  an  empire,  with  the  Archduke  Maximillian 
on  the  throne.     This  called  for  a  letter  of  opposition 


172  H1ST0R  J "  ( W  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

from  Prim  and  a  protest  from  the  Mexican  minister  at 
Paris,  with  a  demand  for  his  passports. 

Juarez  well  knew  that  the  fortress  of  San  Juan  de 
XTlua  could  not  successfully  resist  the  allied  bombard- 
ment and  assaults.  He  therefore  withdrew,  and  concen- 
trated his  armies  in  the  interior;  and  to  avoid  hostilities 
if  possible,  resorted  to  diplomacy.  When  the  deliberat- 
ing parties  first  met  they  were  made  aware  of  the  facts 
in  the  case  and  of  the  plans  of  Juarez,  and  preliminary 
terms  were  proposed  by  which  the  debts  of  Mexico 
could  be  funded  to  the  end  of  final  payment.  It  was 
then  clearly  developed  that  Napoleon  had  other  schemes 
and  other  plans  than  those  presented  in  the  convention 
held  in  Loudon.  These  facts,  together  with  the  inflexi- 
ble determination  exhibited  by  Juarez,  caused  the 
Spanish  representatives  to  vacillate.  Finally  in  April 
Prim  with  the  Spanish  squadron  retired  from  the  enter- 
prise.  The  English  followed  the  example  of  Spain  in  a 
few  days,  but  not  until  they  had  secured  a  valuable 
business  arrangement  with  Mexico.  So  ended  the  triple 
alliance. 

When  il  became  manifest  to  Juarez  that  the  French 
would  continue  their  hostile  invasion  heexerted  himself 
to  the  utmost;  and  appeals  were  made  to  all  Mexicans 
to  lay  aside  for  the  time  their  differences,  and  to  unite 
common  enemy.  The  army  was  put  in  the 
best  state  of  organization,  and  funds  were  raised  to  pre- 

fora  long  contest.    A  decree  was  issued  on  January 

in  which  the  president  declared  that  all  citi- 

ico  between   the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty 

who  did  not  take  up  arms  in  defense  of  the  country  were 

traitors.     Thai  any  armed  invasion  of  Mexico  without  a 

previou  I  declaration  of  war,  or  any  invitation  of  such  an 


FROM  CORTEZ   TO  DIAZ.  173 

invasion  by  citizens  or  foreigners  residing  in  the 
country,  was  a  crime  against  the  independence  of  the 
nation,  and  would  be  punished  with  death.  Civil  offi- 
cers were  given  extraordinary  powers  over  the  property 
of  citizens,  courts-martial  were  provided  to  take  the 
place  of  ordinary  tribunals  and  processes,  and  severe 
penalties  were  laid  against  Mexicans  who  entered  the 
service  of  the  invaders.  By  circulars  addressed  to  foreign 
nations  Juarez  declared  that  the  proposed  empire  was  an 
infraction  of  the  rights  of  the  nation,  and  a  pretext  hy 
which  Mexico  .should  be  transformed  into  a  colon)-  of 
France. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  English  and  Spanish  troops 
changed  the  aspect  of  the  enterprise;  and  instead  of  an 
intervention  it  became  an  invasion  without  a  previous 
declaration  of  war,  and  all  attempts  at  concealment  or 
evasion  were  thrown  off.  General  Laurencez  was  placed 
in  command  of  about  5,000  French  troops,  while 
"Generals  Marquez  and  Mejia,  who  had  served  with  the 
armies  of  Zuloaga  and  Miramon,  took  command  of  the 
Mexican  force,  which  was  in  sympathy  with  the  in- 
vaders. These  combined  armies  took  position  at  Cor- 
doba and  Orizaba. 

The  French  officers  spoke  boldly  of  having  come  to 
the  country  to  suppress  republican  anarchy  and  to  estab- 
lish a  throne.  On  the  16th  of  April  a  proclamation  ap- 
peared, convoking  all  Mexicans  who  sympathized  with 
the  intervention,  and  inviting  them  to  place  themselves 
under  the  standard  then  being  raised  by  the  most  liberal 
people  of  Europe,  and  at  the  same  time  denying  all  in- 
tentions to  make  war  against  the  Mexican  nation. 
Emissaries  were  sent  among  the  Mexicans  to  create 
hostility  to  the  government;  and  on  the  19th  of  April  a 


1 74  H1S1 ORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

prommcianieinto  was  issued, renouncing  the  authority  of 
Juarez  and  declaring  in  favor  of  Almonte,  who  in  turn 
issued  his  manifesto,  in  which  he  appealed  to  his  fellow- 
citizens  to  give  aid  in  the  establishment,  with  the  help 
of  the  French,  of  a  government  which  should  be  stable, 
dignified  and  worthy  of  confidence. 

General  Laurencez  organized  an  army  of  6,000  sol- 
diers, and  marched  upon  Puebla.  The  Mexican  army 
which  held  that  city  was  commanded  by  General  Igna- 
cio  Zaragoza,  who  was  now  prominently  brought  to 
public  notice  and  honor.  A  battle  wras  fought  within 
and  around  the  city  on  the  5th  of  May,  1862.  The 
French  were  badly  defeated,  and  retreated  to  Orizaba. 
This  first  battle  and  first  victory  brought  to  the  front 
many  distinguished  Mexicans,  one  of  them  being  Gen- 
eral Porfirio  Diaz,  who  in  after  years  took  part  in  the  wars 
and  politics  of  Mexico,  and  who  has  become  the  idol  of 
all  true  Mexican  patriots  and  statesmen.  This  victory 
on  the  "Cinco  de  Mayo,"  the  5th  of  May,  is  annually 
commemorated  as  a  national  holiday  in  Mexico. 

By  this  defeat  Napoleon  saw  that  the  establishment 
of  an  empire  in  Mexico  was  a  more  serious  undertaking 
than  he  had  at  first  imagined.  But  he  placed  the  forces 
under  the  command  of  General  Forey,  increased  their 
number  with  French  re-enforcements,  and  directed 
the  general  to  accept  and  organize  a  Mexican  con- 
tingent. He  directed  him  also  to  set  up  a  form  of 
provisional  government,  and  to  give  the  people  assur- 
ance  that  the  government  would  be  based  on  a  new  po- 
Litical  system.  But  he  also  instructed  the  general  so  to 
conduct  his  civil  procedures  that  the  French  would  be 
in  the  a  <  endant. 

Forey  well  understood  what  was  expected  of  him, 


FROM  CORTEZ  7 O  DIAZ.  175 

and  in  September  he  published  broadcast  a  manifesto,  in 
which  he  claimed  that  the  government  of  Juarez  was  a 
tyranny,  and  that  he  had  come  to  destroy  it  in  the  in- 
terest of  progress  and  civilization.  He  also  restricted 
the  assumptions  of  Almonte  who,  as  provisional  presi- 
dent, had  not  pleased  the  people  or  satisfied  the  clergy. 
In  fact  the  general  assumed  a  decided  military  dictator- 
ship over  the  country. 

In  January,  1863,  Forey  marched  into  the  interior; 
and,  on  the  16th  of  March,  appeared  before  Puebla  with 
an  army  of  26,000  men.  Zaragoza  having  died  in  the 
meantime,  General  Ortega  was  in  command  of  the  Mexi- 
can forces,  numbering  22,000  men.  He  placed  the  city 
in  the  best  state  of  defense  on  all  sides,  and  awaited  the 
attack. 

The  French  general,  knowing  well  the  stuff  of 
which  the  Mexican  soldier  was  made,  avoided  for  a  time 
a  direct  attack,  and  adopted  the  Fabian  policy  of  wait- 
ing. So  he  did  not  make  his  first  movement  until  the 
26th.  From  that  day  the  siege  and  assault  continued 
until  the  17th  of  May,  when  the  white  flag  was  displayed 
as  a  signal  of  surrender.  The  remaining  force,  which 
yielded  to  the  French  army,  was  12,500  men.  So  tena- 
cious, courageous,  and  desperate  was  the  garrison  that 
they  had  consumed  horses,  mules  and  dogs  as  rations; 
and  it  was  only  when  absolutely  nothing  edible  remained 
that  they  laid  down  their  arms.  Their  last  ration  con- 
sisted of  a  decoction  of  orange  leaves.  Famine  did  much 
to  aid  the  French  arms. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


1863  TO  1864. 

Juarez  Flees  the  Capital — French  Occupation — 
Manifestos — Regencies — Notables — Mexico  a 
Hereditory  Monarchy — Maximillian  Chosen 
Emperor — Terms  and  Conditions — Coronation 
in  Austria — Visits  Pius  IX. — Benediction — 
Church  Superior  to  State — Maximillian  in 
Mexico  —  Monroe  Doctrine  —  Violated  by 
Roman  Catholics — Americans  Cannot  Forget 

IT. 

AFTER  the  fall  of  Puebla  the  French  army  moved 
upon  the  capital.  Juarez  was  disposed  to  make 
resistance,  but  the  fact  that  only  14,000  men  were 
at  his  c<  >mmand  caused  the  evacuation  of  the  city,  which 
took  place  on  the  31st  of  May,  [863.  The  government 
was  transferred  to  Queretaro,  and  afterwards  to  San 
Luis  Potosi.  Upon  the  removal  of  the  government  the 
1  onservatives  assumed  command  in  the  capital  and 
openly  declared  for  French  intervention. 

<  )n  the  coth  of  June  General  Forey  entered  the 
city,  and  on  the  1  ith  he  published  a  manifesto  in  which 
he  proclaimed  his  occupation  of  the  capital,  and  gave 
much  advice  to  Mexicans  as  to  their  political  affairs 
in     which     the     words     "concord,"     "fraternity"     and 


FROM  C0R7EZ  70  DIAZ.  177 

"patriotism"  were  interspersed  with  great  profusion. 
Although  he  promised  much  more  than  lay  in  human 
power  to  fulfill,  he  asserted  that  after  nearly  half  a 
century  of  republican  anarchy,  any  kind  of  a  govern- 
mental change  would  be  for  the  welfare  of  the  country. 
On  the  1 6th  of  the  month  he  appointed,  a  supreme 
council  of  the  nation,  which  consisted  of  thirty- five 
avowed  monarchists. 

This  council  elected  three  regents,  who  were  Gen- 
erals Alinonte  and  Salas  and  the  Archbishop  L,abastida, 
he  having  been  exiled  a  bishop  but  returned  an  arch- 
bishop, bold  with  the  aid  of  French  troops  to  enter  the 
field  of  politics  in  the  interest  of  the  empire  and  the 
Church.  This  junta  selected  215  citizens,  regardless  of 
rank  or  place  of  residence,  who  were  called  the  "As- 
sembly of  Notables,"  and  were  charged  with  the  duty 
of  formulating  a  new  government.  This  assembly  met 
for  the  first  time  on  the  8th  of  July,  and  on  the  10th 
made  their  report,  in  which  the}-  declared  for  a  limited 
monarchy  in  the  form  of  a  hereditary  empire,  with  the 
Archduke  Maximillian  of  Austria  for  emperor,  and  with 
the  proviso  that  if  that  prince  should  decline  the 
crown,  then  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  of  France 
should  have  the  right  to  select  some  other  Catholic 
prince  to  occupy  the  throne  of  the  new  empire. 

His  selection  for  this  imperial  honor  and  power  was 
not  the  end  of  any  ambitious  scheme  on  the  part  of 
Maximillian,  but  was  clearly  the  result  of  the  ambition 
of  the  French  emperor  and  his  wish  to  respond  to  the 
emissaries  of  the  Church  from  Mexico,  supported  by  the 
s.une  organization  in  Kurope.  Napoleon  also  wished 
to  reinstate  himself  with  the  pope  of  Rome  and  with  the 
house  of   Hapsburg,  with  both  of  whom  he  was  in  bad 


r7S  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

odor.  So  he  entered  into  this  scheme  to  give  an  im- 
perial crown  to  a  scion  of  that  Catholic  house,  and  it  is 
more  than  prohable  that  the  arrangements  were  all 
made  before  the  signing  of  the  treat}*  of  London. 

Maximillian  was  the  brother  of  Francis  Joseph, 
emperor  of  Austria;  and  as  one  of  that  family  was  at 
birth  endowed  with  titles,  among  which  he  boasted 
"Archduke  of  Austria,"  "Prince  of  Hungary,"  of 
Bohemia  and  Lorrena  and  "Count  of  Hapsburg."  He 
was  married  to  Carlote,  daughter  of  Leopold  I.  of  Bel- 
gium, and  was  at  the  time  of  his  selection  in  his  thirty- 
second  year. 

Though  liberally  educated  and  somewhat  exten- 
sively traveled,  lie  had  not  developed  marked  ability, 
nor  had  he  held  important  offices.  Under  the  circum- 
stances and  as  sadly  shown  in  his  career  and  death,  he 
was  but  a  puppet  in  the  hands  of  a  strategic  meddler  in 
the  affairs  of  Europe  and  America.  It  is  said  that  he 
was  pressed  by  his  creditors  and  very  much  disgusted 
with  his  prospects  for  position  and  revenue  and  gladly 
accepted  the  proffered  crown. 

Still  he  knew  of  the  existence  of  the  republic,  of  the 
inflexible  character  of  Juarez,  of  the  prowess  of  the 
in  soldiers  who  had  defeated  the  well-armed  and 
commanded  French  troops  in  one  battle,  and  had  gained 
credit  by  their  fight  against  superior  numbers  in 
another.  He  also  knew  that  the  United  States  govern- 
ment was  opposed  to  the  whole  scheme.  Therefore 
when  the  formal  tender  of  the  crown  of  the  empire  of 
made  to  him  in  October,  1863,  bj  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  assembly  of  notables  at  the  palace  of 
Miramar,  he  d<  «  lared  his  \\  illingness  to  accept  the  same 
when  the  citizens  of   Mexico  should   in  a  general    elec- 


FROM  CORTEZ   'JO  DIAZ.  179 

tion  ratify  the  act  of  the  notables,  and  when  the  nations 
of  Europe  should  guarantee  protection  from  any  dangers 
which  might  threaten  his  throne. 

The  combined  Franco-Mexican  armies  at  that  time 

on  duty  in  Mexico  numbered  48,000  men,  all  under 
command  of  Marshal  Bazaine,  and  they  occupied  most 
of  the  states  of  the  country.  Bazaine  was  always  the 
devoted  servant  of  Napoleon,  and  he  cheerfully  fur- 
nished returns  which  showed  that  Maximillian  was  the 
choice  of  the  people.  Napoleon  took  it  upon  himself  to 
furnish  the  demanded  military  force,  and  in  the  "Treaty 
of  Miramar"  promised  to  maintain  the  French  army  in 
Mexico  until  the  empire  was  self-sustaining;  and  to  that 
end  8,ooo  troops  were  to  remain  in  the  country  for  six 
years  and  the  empire  was  to  be  guarded  from  invasions 
by  the  United  States. 

"I,  Maximillian,  emperor  of  Mexico,  swear  to  God 
by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  to  insure  by  every  means  within 
my  power  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  nation,  to 
lefend  its  independence  and  to  maintain  the  integrity 
of  its  territory.  "  Such  was  the  oath  to  which  Maximil- 
lian gave  signature  in  the  imposing  ceremonies  of  his 
coronation  which  took  place  at  the  archdncal  palace  of 
Miramar  in  Austria,  on  the  10th  of  April,  [864.  The 
Mexican  flag  was  unfurled  above  the  castle  tower  while 
twenty-one  guns  pealed  their  awful  and  prophetic  roar 
across  the  placid  waters  of  the  Adriatic,  and  the  ready 
and  co-operative  church  choir  sang  their  inevitable  Te 
Deum.  The  Mexican  delegation  was  moved  even  to 
tears  under  the  combined  influences  and  exercises. 

No  Catholic  prince  so  fully  and  gratify  ingly  in- 
ducted into  the  higher  order  of  potentates  so  fully 
charged    with    the    double  duty  of  overthrowing  a  re- 


180  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

public,  and  on  the  ruins  thereof  erecting  an  empire, 
committed  to  the  resurrecting  and  maintaining  of  Catho- 
lic and  clerical  dominance,  would  think  of  proceeding 
to  his  work  without  the  papal  benediction.  Therefore, 
and  as  he  was  a  "Grace  of  God"  sovereign  "by  right 
divine,"  Maximillian  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome  to  re- 
ceive the  required  blessing. 

All  that  there  transpired  will  never  be  made  public, 
as  the  fiasco  of  the  enterprise  which  so  soon  ended  it  all 
to  the  discredt  of  the  conspiring  European  powers,  and 
in  the  death  of  the  deceived  emperor  placed  the  seal  of 
silence  upon  many  lips  and  closed  hermetically  the  rec- 
ords of  contemporary  history.  But  while  administering 
the  communion  to  the  emperor,  his  holiness,  Pius  IX., 
while  presenting  the  host  used  these  pregnant  words: 
"Great  are  the  rights  of  nations  and  they  must  be 
heeded,  but  greater  and  more  sacred  are  the  rights  of 
the  Church."  Significant  and  ominous  words  are 
these,  and  therein  is  couched  the  papal  view  of  the 
rights  of  nations  and  also  of  the  superior  rights  of  the 
Church  as  applied  to  Mexico  and  to  all  the  world 
besides. 

<  >n  the  29th  of  May,  1^64,  the  new-made  sovereigns 
arrived  unexpectedly  at  Vera  Cm/.,  where  the  inhabit- 
ants received  them  coldly  and  without  enthusiasm  or 
even  curiosity;  and  his  first  proclamation  awakened 
neither  admiration  nor  interest.  The  imperial  party 
made  their  journey  to  the  capital  by  way  of  Puebla, 
where  on  the  7th  day  of  June  the  empress  celebrated 
hei  twent)  fifth  birthday,  and  on  the  12th  they  made 
their  entrance  into  the  city  by  way  of  Guadalupe, 
Hidalgo,  amidst  the  most  enthusiastic  tokens  of  joy  on 
the  part  of  the  people.     A  Te  Deum  in  the  great  cathe- 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  181 

dral  finished  the  reception  and  gave  it  the  appearance 
of  a  grand  religious  demonstration. 

"In  the  various  international  congresses  held  in 
Europe  regarding  Hispano-Mexican  affairs  during  the 
years  in  which  the  Mexican  people  were  securing  their 
independence  and  formulating  their  systems  of  govern- 
ment, Great  Britain  had  secured  the  right  to  supervise 
and  work  them  up  as  being  in  better  condition  so  to  do 
than  any  other  European  country  or  the  United  States; 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  opportune  and  energetic 
protests  of  England  and  the  United  States  against  the 
intervention  on  the  part  of  certain  Latin  nations  in 
Europe,  who  constituted  the  so  named  'Holy  Alliance,' 
it  is  probable  that  after  the  triumph  of  Ferdinand  VII. 
in  Spain,  whereby  he  became  firmly  seated  upon  the 
Spanish  throne,  said  alliance,  Spain  and  France,  would 
have  attempted  by  arms  to  vindicate  his  claim  to  abso- 
lute power  in  Mexico."* 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  was  promulgated  in  1823  to 
the  gratification  of  England,  whose  minister  of  foreign 
affairs  had  long  urged  upon  the  United  States  so  to  do; 
and  the  firm  stand  thereby  taken  coincided  with  the 
policy  and  wishes  of  England,  the  citizens  of  which  had 
financial  and  commercial  relations  with  the  new  nation. 

In  that  year  James  Monroe,  president  of  the  United 
States,  in  his  message  to  congress  gave  voice  to  senti- 
ments and  principles  which  have  been  known  in  history 
as  the  "Monroe  Doctrine."  The  Spanish  provinces  in 
South  America  and  Mexico  had  long  been  struggling 
with  Spain  for  their  independence,  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  desired  to  recognize  them  as  sovereign 
nations.     The  president    declared    that   "the  American 

•Hisioria  cU-  Mexico 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

continents  are  not  to  be  considered  as  subject  to  future 
colonization  by  any  European  powers."  .He  further 
said  "that  we  should  consider  any  attempt  by  European 
powers  to  extend  their  systems  to  any  portion  of  this 
hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety. 
But  with  the  governments  who  have  de- 
clared their  independence  and  maintained  it,  and  whose 
independence  we  have  on  great  consideration  and  on 
just  principles  acknowledged,  we  could  not  view  any 
interposition  for  the  purpose  of  oppressing  them  or  con- 
trolling in  an}-  other  manner  their  destiny  by  any  Euro- 
pean power,  in  any  other  light  than  as  the  manifesta- 
tion of  an  unfriendly  disposition  toward  the  United 
States.  It  is  impossible  that   the    allied 

powers  should  extend  their  political  system  to  any  por- 
tion of  either  continent  without  endangering  our  peace 
and    happiness.  It    is   impossible,  there- 

fore, that  we  should  behold  such  interposition  in  any 
form  with  indifference."  He  declared  the  true  American 
policy  to  lie  "neither  to  entangle  ourselves  in  the  broils 
of  Europe  nor  permit  the  powers  of  the  Old  World  to 
interfere  with  the  affairs  of  the  new." 

This  novel  idea  was  equivalent  to  saying  that  the 
United  States  forbade  the  nations  of  Europe  to  acquire 
'his  side  of  the  Atlantic.  However  question- 
al)^' it  might  lie  considered  for  the  president  to  avow  so 
openly  and  fully  sentiments  like  these,  the  people  of  the 
Union  adopted  them  at  once;  and  the  line  of  policy  then 
marked  out  has  ever  since  been  that  by  which  the 
United  States  government  has  regulated  its  conduct  on 
this  important  subject. 

For  forty  years  this   international   policy  had   pre- 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  '       183 

vailed  in  the  western  hemisphere,  and  been  known  to 
and  respected  by  all  European  nations. 

The  international  policy  of  the  Old  World  is  that 
which  is  called  the  "Balance  of  Power,"  which,  while 
nearly  indefinable,  is  notwithstanding  so  omnipre- 
sent and  sensitive  a  force  that  if  infracted  by  the  threat- 
ening of  a  Belgian  fortress,  the  invasion  of  a  Swiss  Can- 
toii|  or  the  loss  of  a  key  to  a  Church  in  Jerusalem,  there 
would  be  written  protocols,  summoned  conferences,  and 
mustered  armies. 

There  existed  at  that  time,  as  at  the  present,  from 
the  borders  of.  Canada  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan  a 
complete  system  of  republics  professing  the  same  politi- 
cal creed.  There  was  not  an  interest  or  an  ambition  of 
a  single  one  of  these  republics  which  threatened  an  in- 
terest or  an  ambition  of  a  single  Knropean  power;  and 
yet  the  states  composing  the  holy  alliance — the  empire 
of  Austria,  the  empire  of  France,  and  the  pope  of  Rome 
— with  whatever  of  civil  and  divine  power  he  possessed, 
all  united  to  disregard  the  righteousness  of  principle 
embraced  in  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  also  to  eliminate 
the  great  exemplar  republic  as  a  paramount  political 
power. 

"The  success  of  the  establishment  of  a  foreign  em- 
pire in  Mexico  would  have  been  fatal  to  all  that  the 
United  States  cherished,  to  all  that  it  hoped  peacefully 
to  achieve.  The  scheme  of  invasion  rested  on  the  as- 
sumption of  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  and  its  division 
into  two  hostile  governments." — Blaine. 

The- presence  of  Maximillian  in  Mexico  to  establish 
a  monarchy  on  the  ruins  of  a  republic  was  clearly  the 
work  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  attempt  to 
suppress  liberty,  progress  and  popular  education,  ami  to 


1S4  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

continue  the  exorbitant  revenues  of  the  old  ecclesiasti- 
cal system  had  the  S3Tmpathy  and  assistance  of  the 
Romish  Church  from  the  lowest  of  the  orders  to  his 
holiness,  Pius  IX;  and  had  there  been  success  it  would 
have  gratified  all  loyal  Catholics  the  world  over. 

About  five  months  after  the  selection  of  Maximillian 
as  emperor  of  Mexico  and  four  months  before  his  coro- 
nation the  pope,  following  up  a  correspondence  of«sym- 
pathy  with  the  confederacy,  sent  a  letter  addressed  "To 
the  Illustrious  and  Honorable  Jefferson  Davis,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,"  wherein 
among  other  terms  of  recognition  he  said:  "It  was  pecu- 
liarly gratifying  to  Us  to  hear  that  you  illustrious  Sir  as 
well  as  the  people  whom  yon  govern,''''  and  "Would  to 
God  that  the  other  inhabitants  of  those  regions  (the 
northern  people)  a>id  their  rulers,'"  also,  "We  also  pray 
the  same  all-clement  Lord  of  Mercies  to  shine  upon 
your  excellency  the  light  of  his  Divine  grace,  and  to 
unite  you  and  Ourselves  in  bonds  of  perfect  love." 

"Given  at  Rome  at  St.  Peter's  the  3d  day  of  Decem- 
ber, 1863,  in  the  Eighteenth  year  of  Our  Pontificate. 

Pius,  P.  P.  IX." 

The  recognition  of  the  confederate  states  by  the 
pope  had  immediate  and  wide  spread  influence  upon  the 

Ity  of  his  followers  in  the  Union  armies,  and  soon 
nn    increased  number  of  desertions  was  reported.      Of 
who  were  American  born  45  per  cent  were 
Romanists.     Prom  the  nation  which  furnishes,  priests 
pot  house  politicians,  and  policemen  for  the  United  States, 
and  from  whose  sons  about  i44,oooenlistmentsweremade, 
the  records  show  more  than  100,000  desertions, the  largest 
imber  occuring  after  his  holiness  joined  the  confeder- 
al '  .  and  stood  willing  to  have  the  Uord  of  Mercies 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  185 

unite  him  to  Jefferson  Davis  in  bonds  of  perfect  love  by 
an  act  of  Divine  grace. 

Let  the  past  be  the  past,  but  let  it  be  the  past  with 
all  the  instructions  and  warnings  thereby  furnished  to 
patriotic  Americans,  whose  national  tocsin  is,  "Eternal 
vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty."  Object  lessons  like 
these,  so  clearly  exposed  to  view  on  the  pages  of  history, 
cannot  be  obscured  by  mists  of  falsehood;  nor  can  their 
colors  be  obliterated  by  words  of  oil  falling  from  the  lips 
of  emissaries  of  the  propagando,  whose  office  and  inter- 
est it  is  to  falsify  the  truths  of  history  to  further  the 
schemes  of  Rome — that  Rome  which  maintains  a  wise 
and  vigilant  system  of  power  and  place  getting  in  the 
United  States  through  civil,  political  and  personal  effort 
of  priest  and  layman — Rome,  which  subordinates  all 
dictates  of  law  and  enlightened  conscience  to  enforce  the 
dogma  of  Pius  IX.  "Great  are  the  rights  of  nations, 
and  they  must  be  heeded;  but  greater  and  more  sacred 
are  the  rights  of  the  Church." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

1864  TO  1866. 

Maximili.iax  Incapable — Satisfies  None — Refuses 
the  Pope  and  the  Church — Expenses — Debt — 
I  >kcree  of  October  —  Executions  —  United 
Statics  Troops  on  the  Rio  Grande — Monroe 
Doctrine  Enforced — French  to  Evacuate — 
Empress  Carlote  in  Europe — Napoleon  Fails 
Her— Pius  IX.  Also — Carlote  Insane. 

WHEN  the  emperor  and  the  empress  arrived  at  the 
capital    they  made   the   castle  of  Chapultepec 
their   palace.     There  they  established  a  court 
after  the  European  system,  and  were  ready  for  the  duties 
and  pleasures  of  the  empire. 

No  newly  installed  sovereign  ever  had  greater  op- 
portunity or  necessity  for  the  exercise  of  statesmanship; 
none  ever  so  fully  and  signally  failed.  Called  to  an  em- 
pire in  name  only,  it  so  remained.  Without  any  form 
ot  constitution  and  without  statute  laws  enacted  or 
adopted  by  tin-  empire  when  he  entered  his  domain, 
none  wen-  formulated.  Controlled  by  no  law  funda- 
mental or  statutory,  lie  was  responsible  to  no  representa- 
tive- assembly. 

Tin-  country  needed  :i  firm,  shrewd,  practical  sol- 
man  as  ruler.      It  had  one  wdio  dreamed   of  a 
.1  of  democratic   imperialism,  and  to  whom  the  prac- 
ei  nmenl  was  a  bore, 
ially    needed    a    reorganization    of   its 


FROM  CORTEX   TO  DIAZ.  l87 

treasury  department,  as  the  financial  embarassment  of 
the  nation  had  been  the  ostensible  reason  for  the  over- 
throw of  the  republic;  but  the  emperor  failed  also  in 
that  matter,  and  so  the  credit  of  the  empire  depreciated 
more  and  more. 

The  army  of  the  empire  consisted  almost  entirely  of 
foreign  troops,  and  there  was  really  no  imperial  army 
until,  by  reason  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  French,  it  lie- 
came  necessary  to  organize  one;  and  then  it  was  too 
late.  The  French  army  was  strong  and  the  emperor 
weak,  therefore  he  leaned  upon  the  French  army. 

Bazaine  had  displayed  statesmanship  in  emergencies 
as  well  as  while  acting  under  instructions  from  the 
French  emperor;  therefore  Maximillian  was  willing 
that  the  general  should  continue  to  control  the  policies 
of  the  empire,  while  he  cultivated  the  good  graces  of 
the  people.  He  dressed  in  the  costume  of  the  country, 
donned  the  broad-brimmed  sombrero,  mingled  with  the 
people,  and  was  affable  to  all.  He  took  interest  in  the 
heroes  and  traditions  of  the  nation,  made  himself 
familiar  with  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  religion  as 
taught  and  practiced,  and  performed  various  acts  of 
beneficence.  He  also  made  feeble  attempts  to  establish 
reforms  in  the  administration  of  justice. 

In  his  good  will  and  affability  he  cherished  a  de- 
sire to  satisfy  all  parties;  so  both  conservatives  and 
liberals  were  admitted  to  his  councils  and  taken  into 
his  cabinet.  But  his  well-meant  efforts  were  fruitless  in 
securing  unanimity  of  opinion  or  harmony  of  action; 
and  political  contentious  continued,  with  the  additional 
result  of  exposing  his  utter  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
science  of  government  and  of  statesmanship,  and  there- 
fore he  satisfied  neither  party. 


iS8  H  1ST  OR  ) '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

Moreover,  it  was  discovered  that  he  had  the  ele- 
ments of  deceit  and  insincerity  in  his  nature.  His  policy 
seemed  to  be  to  temporize  when  possible,  and  to  com- 
promise when  compelled  to  act. 

As  a  spendthrift  who,  after  suffering  much  from 
need,  suddenly  enters  into  a  fortune,  the  emperor  felt 
like  having  the  world  share  his  exuberance.  So  life 
at  the  capital  and  in  some  of  the  larger  cities  of  the 
vicinity  was  gay  during  the  bright  days  of  the  empire. 
But  the  days  of  brilliance  were  soon  over,  for  the  people 
who  were  his  subjects  had  greater  interests  involved 
than  the  personal  pleasures  of  the  emperor  and  his 
suite. 

Statesmen  who  had  taken  part  in  the  politics  and 
business  of  the  country  in  the  past,  and  who  had  given 
a  welcome  to  the  empire,  hopeful  that  the  change  would 
be  for  the  welfare  of  the  commonwealth,  seeing  their 
mistake  became  disgusted  and  alienated. 

The  Church  party,  which  with  great  effort  and  ex- 
pense had  co-operated  in  the  schemes  that  had  ended  in 
his  selection  and  coronation  as  emperor,  demanded 
prompt  and  radical  action  in  the  administration  of  what 
they  deemed  justice,  in  their  interest.  Archbishop  L,a- 
bastida  and  other  high  clergy,  who  in  their  political 
and  ecclesiastical  capacity  had  shaped  public  sentiment 
to  favor  the  imperial  system,  demanded  the  reversal  of 
the  decrees  oi  Juarez  and  the  restoration  to  the  Church 
of  all  the  rights  and  property  of  which  it  had  been  des- 
poiled.  Genera]  Bazaine  at  first  and  Maximilliau  in 
suit  gave  such  unsatisfactory  replies  that  they  sent  the 
clerical  party  to  the  ranks  of  the  disaffected. 

The  legate  of  the  pope  who  was  specially  sent  from 
Rome  to  supplement  and  finish  the  business  of  Church 


FROM  COR7EZ  70  DIAZ.  189 

and  state,  which  had  not  been  fully  disposed  of  when  the 
emperor  had  his  final  interview  with  his  holiness,  raised 
his  voice  in  unison  with  the  archbishop  in  demanding 
the  restoration  of  the  properties  which  had  been  seques- 
trated, and  in  addition  he  insisted  upon  "the  exclusion 
from  the  Mexican  empire  of  every  form  of  religion  but  the 
Roman  Catholic;  the  independent  sovereignty  of  each  bish- 
op in  his  diocese,  the  absolute  control  of  schools  and  educa- 
tion, and  the  immunity  of  the  Church  from  any  interfer- 
ence of  the  civil  authorities. ' ' 

Upon  these  demands  the  counselors  of  the  emperor 
were  divided.  Many  of  his  personal  friends  held  titles 
to  part  of  the  real  estate,  and  possessed  much  of  the 
personal  property  once  belonging  to  the  clergy  and  the 
Church,  and  they  stood  in  the  way  of  favorable  action. 
The  emperor,  however,  could  no  longer  temporize,  as 
the  issues  were  upon  him.  So  he  refused  the  nuncio, 
and  in  turn  insisted  upon  nearly  equal  usurpations,  in- 
cluding the  principle  that  matrimony  was  a  civil  con- 
tract, and  also  upon  the  subordination  of  the  Church  to 
the  state,  and  that  the  clergy  should  be  classified  with 
civil  employees;  insisting,  moreover,  upon  confirming 
titles  to  the  property  of  the  Church,  which  had  already 
been  sold  and  disposed  of. 

This  was  in  reality  equivalent  to  a  disavowal  of  the 
bases  on  which  the  empire  had  been  established,  and  a 
nullification  of  the  motives  for  the  war  and  an  agree- 
ment to  the  justice  of  the  liberal  cause;  and  it  so  infuri- 
ated the  clerical  party  that  in  1865  they  went  so  far  as 
to  promote  a  conspiracy  in  favor  of  Santa  Anna,  with 
whom  they  hoped  to  associate  Diaz  or  some  other  liberal 
chief,  and  thus  overthrow  the  new-made  empire.     Thus 


19°  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

the  faction  upon  which  the  emperor  had   founded  his 
;reatest  hope  for  support  was  alienated. 

The  country  was  held  to  apparent  loyalty  by  an  im- 
mense army  composed  of  foreigners,  to  the  exclusion  of 
native  soldiers.  So  the  citizens  of  the  country,  who 
were  patriots  at  heart,  whether  conservatives  or  liberals, 
became  dissatisfied  and  hostile.  Places  in  the  emperor's 
suite  were  filled,  mainly,  with  Belgian,  Austrian  and 
French  soldiers  or  fledgeling  noblemen,  who  did  not 
disguise  their  contempt  for  the  citizens  of  the  country. 
These  together  with  the  commander  of  the  French  army 
were  bitterly  hated. 

But   not   the   least  cause  of  complaint  was  the  in- 

ing  obligations  of  the  country.  The  emperor  ex- 
hibited  the   same  financial   incapacity  in  his  imperial 

ion  which  he  did  as  an  impecunious  scion  of  royalty 
in  Austria.  To  keep  up  the  court  pageantry  to  which 
lie  had  been  accustomed,  and  which  to  his  mind  was  in- 

nsable  to  imperial  dignity,  and  to  carry  out  some 
of  his  impracticable  schemes  in  the  country,  he  exhausted 
the  revenues  and' increased  the  public  debt.    The  single 

of  the  imperial  civil  list  amounted  to  $1,700,000, 

-^0,000   which    had   been    the   president's 

salary.     Iu  addition  to  consuming  the  revenues  arising 

1   taxation,  the   debt  of  the  country  was  increased 

until  it  amounted  to  $250,000,000;  and  under  the  pecu- 

conditions  of  the  empire  the  rates  of  discount  and 
iutei  exorbitant. 

This  extravagance  a'nd  financial   incapacity  was  a 
ippointment  to  Napoleon,  who  had  expected  to 

ive  financial  aid  from  the  reported  fabulous  wealth 
of  Mexico,  instead  of  having  such  a  drain  upon   his  ex- 

[uer  as  lie  was  compelled  to  submit  to  in  sustaining 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  r9j 

his  troops  in  the  country.  Thus,  without  support  from 
his  people,  and  with  a  disappointed  benefactor,  the  em- 
pire of  Maximillian,  which  never  promised  any  benefit 
to  the  people  of  Mexico,  was  doomed  to  collapse  from 
the  very  beginning. 

While  the  empire  was  running  its  course,  and  while 
the  elements  of  dissolution  and  disintegration  were  de- 
veloping, the  government  of  Juarez  was  being  moved 
from  place  to  place,  until  it  finally  was  located  at  Paso 
Del  Norte,  1200  miles  from  the  capital.  There  Benito 
Juarez,  the  true  and  constitutional  executive  of  Mexico, 
maintained  the  forms  of  government,  having  but  few 
adherents.  Among  them  was  Sebastian  LerdodeTejada, 
an  able  lawyer  and  statesman,  who  was  his  faithful 
minister  of  relations.  Strong  of  faith,  and  assured  of  the 
inevitable  dissolution  of  the  so-called  empire,  they  list- 
ened with  stoical  indifference  to  the  alarms  which  dis- 
persed their  followers. 

Word  was  brought  to  Maximillian  that  Juarez  had 
abandoned  his  cause  and  crossed  the  Rio  Grande  into 
the  United  States,  impelled  by  that  report  he  issued  a 
decree  on  the  3d  day  of  October,  1865;  in  which  he  de- 
clared that  there  was  now  but  one  government  in 
Mexico  and  that  one  the  empire.  Therein  he  announced 
that  any  armed  resistance  to  his  authority  would  not  be 
considered  as  war,  but  as  the  acts  of  bandits;  that  all 
such  offenders  should  be  tried  by  court-martial,  and 
that  the  guilty  should  be  summarily  executed- 

General  Bazaine  issued  an  order  to  the  army  in 
which  he  said:  "Hereafter  the  troops  will  take  no 
prisoners  and  there  will  be  no  exchange  of  prisoners." 
All  persons  taken  with  arms  in  their  hands  were  to  be 
put  to  death,  and  rank  was  to  receive  no  consideration. 


192 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS 


Within  a  few  days  Generals  Arteaga  and  Salazar,  who 
were  officers  in  the  Republican  army,  were  arrested  by 
imperial  soldiers,  denied  rights  as  prisoners  of  war, 
tried  by  court-martial,  found  guilty,  sentenced  to  death, 
and  on  the  21st  of  October  were  executed  by  being  shot. 
This  severity  and  injustice    inflicted   upon  distin- 


Maximillian. 


guished  citizens  of  Mexico  at  the  hands  of  foreign 
usurpers  and  invaders  was  more  than  could  be  endured. 
Some  who  had  been  supporters  of  the  imperial  cause  re- 
in ■  'I  Longer  to  give  aid  to  the  emperor  who  could  adopt 
such  a  cruel  and  barbarous  policy,  and  the  Republican 


PROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  193 

cause  received  the  .support  of  many  who  had  previously 
remained  neutral.  The  withdrawal  of  the  decree  did 
not  diminish  the  hostility  which  it  had  inspired. 

During  the  entire  time  that  the  French  troops  had 
occupied  Mexico,  the  United  States  administrative  offi- 
cers had  not  ceased  to  inform  Napoleon  that  his  infrac- 
tion of  the  principles  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  would  not 
be  entirely  ignored.  But  the  unsolved  problem  of  the 
Southern  confederacy  gave  the  emperor  hope  that  there 
would  soon  be  no  United  States,  and  that  he  had  no 
reason  for  fear.  The  triumph  of  the  federal  arms  in 
1865  and  the  appearance  of  General  Sheridan  with  an 
army  corps  upon  the  Rio  Grande  opened  the  eyes  of 
Napoleon.  Then  the  warnings,  protests,  demands  and 
threats  of  the  secretary  of  state  at  Washington  caused 
him  to  take  a  different  view  of  the  relations  of  his  gov- 
ernment to  the  American  international  policy,  and 
Maximillian  was  informed  of  the  intention  of  France  to 
withdraw  its  armies  from  the  support  of  the  empire. 

There  was  consternation  at  the  imperial  palace  at 
Chapultepec  on  the  31st  of  May,  1866,  for  on  that  day 
Maximillian  received  word  of  the  intended  withdrawal. 
Conscious  of  his  weakness  and  of  his  inability  to  main- 
tain himself  his  courage  forsook  him,  and  his  first  im- 
pulse was  to  abdicate  and  return  to  the  safety  of  his  old 
home  in  Austria. 

The  empress,  however,  in  her  misconception  of  the 
seriousness  of  the  case  and  of  the  uncertainty  of  Euro- 
pean support,  dissuaded  him  from  taking  the  wise  steps 
which  he  proposed.  Confident  that  she  could  prevail 
upon  Napoleon  to  fulfill  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  of 
Miramar,  she  started  the  very  next  day  for  Europe. 
When  she  arrived  at  Paris  the  French  emperor  avoided 


HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXIC  \  IN  POL  1  TICS, 

her,  but  persisting  in  her  efforts  she  secured  a  hearing, 
only  to  be  repulsed  with  rudeness.  The  interview 
terminated  by  his  asking  her  by  what  route  she  pre- 
ferred to  have  the  imperial  railway  coach  coiroey  her  out 
of  France. 

It  was  on  her  return  from  St.  Cloud  and  this  brutal 
rebuff  that  the  first  symptoms  of  insanity  manifested 
themselves.  He  had  firmly  announced  that  he  would 
do  nothing  for  her,  and  that  the  French  troops  would 
certainly  be  recalled  from  Mexico,  proffering  at  the 
same  time  advice  to   Maximillian  to  give  up  the  im- 

ible  struggle  and  to  return  to  Europe. 

After  her  repulse"  by  Napoleon,  Carlote  went  to  her 
old  home  at  Miramar.  Doubtless  the  quiet  and  peace 
of  that  home,  and  the  pleasant  memories  of  the  happy 

S  therein  passed  with  her  husband  to  whom  she  was 
lovingly  devoted,  and  the  contrast  therewith  presented 
to  her  mind  as  she  contemplated  the  sad  and  possibly 
fatal  involvements  of  Mexico,  hastened  the  death  of  her 
intellect,  which  had  received  so  serious  a  blow  at  the 
hands  of  Napoleon. 

After   resting  a  few  days  she   repaired  to  Rome  to 

•ope  Tins  IX.  and  to  beg  of  him  the  fulfillment  of 
and   especially  that  he  should  direct  the 

.  in  Mexico  to  cease  their  acts  of  discontent  and 
indifference  and  to  give  their  support  to  the  empire. 
But  the  pope,  like  all  ol  his  predecessors  and  his  only 
was  very  human;  and  inasmuch  as  Maximil- 
lian had  ignored  the  demands  of  his  nuncio,  he  gave 
Carlote  no  encouragement.  Then  herreason  succumbed 
IK  to  the  intense  strain,  and  falling  on  her  knees 
the  pope,  she  cried  in   her  frenzy:     "Saint  Peter 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  '95 

issue  a  bull,  I  beg  you,  to  all  Christians    condemning 
those  who  wish  to  imprison  me!" 

0  futile  faith,  resting  upon  diplomatic  promises 
made  by  Roman  Catholic  powers  from  his  holiness  down 
— or  up— to  the  insincere  trickster  and  coward,  Napo- 
leon III.  The  pope  had  interest  in  Maximilliau  only 
as  a  tool  to  aid  the  Church  to  power  and  money;  and  as 
the  emperor  of  Mexico  had  failed  to  comply  with  the 
impossible  demands  made  upon  him,  the  pope  had  no 
further  interest  in  the  future  of  the  empire  or  of  the 
emperor. 

Neither  was  it  disinterestedness  alone  which  im- 
pelled Napoleon  to  invade  Mexico,  establish  the  empire 
and  select  Maximilliau,  and  when  the  crucial  test  came 
his  visionary  ambitions  succumbed  to  stern  reality. 

The  patriotism  and  prowess  of  the  Union  armies 
maintained  the  American  republic  and  its  international 
policies  and  thereby  overthrew  the  schemes  of  the 
French  emperor,  the  holy  alliance,  and  the  infallible 
pope  of  Rome. 

"Poor  Carlote!"  The  political  part  which  she  had 
to  play  in  that  tragedy  of  diplomacy  ended  in  that  sup- 
plication. She  shut  herself  up  soon  after  in  Chateau 
Miramar,  and  later  she  was  conveyed  to  Belgium,  where 
she  was  confined  at  first  in  the  castle  of  Tervueren  and 
still  later  in  the  Chateau  de  Bouchout,  where  she  still 
remains  hopelessly  demented. 

It  is  happily  probable  that  she  never  knew  the  fate 
of  Maximillian.  For  years  she  believed  he  still  lived 
as  a  prisoner  in  Mexico,  and  would  write  letters  to  the 
sovereigns  of  Europe  demanding  their  assistance  in  his 
behalf. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


1S66  to  1867. 

Maximillian  Vacillates — Church  to  the  Rescue- 
French  Embark — Army  Organized  —  Quere- 
tako — Emperor  Captured — Tried — Condemned 
— Executed — Firmness  of  Juarez. 

THE  news  of  the  failure  of  the  mission  of  Carlote 
reached  the  emperor  at  Chapultepec,  and  he  was 
completely  crushed.  He  saw  no  way  out  of  his 
troubles,  and  doubted  his  ability  to  prolong  the  struggle. 
He  immediately  set  out  for  Vera  Cruz,  as  if  his  nearness 
to  the  coast  could  solve  the  doubt  and  indecision  which 
prevailed  as  to  his  proper  course.  He  remained  in  a 
stale  of  vacillation  for  two  months  at  Orizaba.  An  at- 
tempt which  he  made  at  abdication  was  unsuccessful,  as 
it  embraced  terms  which  were  not  acceptable  to  the 
:ommissioners  who  were  sent  to  secure  the  document. 

The  clericals  in  Mexico  were  in  equal  doubt  as  to 
the  course  which  they  should  take.    The  fall  of  the  em- 
pire meant  the  return  of  Juarez   and   his  decrees.     To 
1   that,  to  them,  dreadful   result  they  rallied  to  the 
support    of   the    emperor,    and    pledged    financial    aid. 
Miramon   had  returned   to  Mexico,  and  he  and  other 
1  office]    pledged  themselves  to  raise  an  army  of 
ins  sufficient  in  numbers  to  take  the  place  of  the 
retiring  foreigners.     Letters  of  sympathy  were  also  re- 
1  from  Europe.    Thus  encouraged  Maximillian  re- 
turned io  the  capital. 


FROM  C0R1EZ  70  DIAZ.  197 

In  January,  1867,  the  French  troops  began  to  retire 
from  the  country,  and  by  March  they  had  all  embarked 
tor  Europe.  Bazaine  himself  was  the  last  to  take  ship, 
and  his  last  and  most  sensible  act  on  Mexican  soil  was, 
to  write  a  letter  to  Maximillian,  urging  him  to  abdicate 
and  offering  him  transportation  to  Europe.  But  by 
reason  of  matters  connected  with  the  collapse  of  the  em- 
pire, Maximillian  had  ceased  to  have  communication 
with  the  French  commander.  He  had  been  flattered 
into  the  belief  that  the  presence  of  the  French  troops 
was  not  necessary;  and  that  he  could  not  only  supply 
the  troops,  but  that  he  could  also  furnish  a  better  com- 
mander than  Bazaine.  So,  as  the  rear  of  the  retiring 
army  passed  his  palace,  he  turned  to  one  of  his  retainers 
and  said:  "At  last  I  am  free."  In  the  unique  language 
of  Marshal  Neil;  Maximillian  had  got  him  a  horse,  and 
was  off  to  conquer  his  empire. 

By  the  withdrawal  of  the  French  army  the  few  sol- 
diers at  the  emperor's  command  were  inadequate  to  hold 
the  whole  country,  so  the  contest  ceased  to  be  national 
and  degenerated  into  a  partisan  one.  It  was  the  old 
struggle  of  the  centralist  or  Church  party  against  the  re- 
public and  the  constitution  which  Juarez  had  fought  to 
a  finish  in  i860.  Some  personal  favorites  of  the  emperor 
among  the  Austrian  and  Belgian  soldiers,  together  with 
a  small  body  of  French  troops  remained  in  Mexico. 

The  work  of  organizing  an  army  of  native  soldiers 
was  pushed  with  energy,  but  the  forces  fell  far  short  of 
the  numbers  pledged.  Ignoring  such  skillful  and  mag- 
netic generals  as  Miramon  and  others,  Maximillian  per- 
sonally assumed  command  of  the  army. 

The  spirit  of  sanguinary  partisanship  which  always 
prevailed  among  armed  Mexicans  was  greatly  inteusi- 


19S  HIS'lORY  OL  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

fied  by  some  of  the  orders  issued  "by  the  imperial  com- 
mander. To  Miramon,  who  held  a  subaltern  command, 
he  gave  the  order  "to  court-martial  and  sentence  Juarez, 
Lerdo  de  Tejada,  Iglesias,  Garcia  and  Negrete,  should 
he  succeed  in  capturing  them,  but  to  defer  their  execu- 
tion until  farther  special  instructions.  The  same  to  ap- 
ply  to  all  dissidents;  to  prisoners  in  arms  no  quarter  is 
granted."  This  order  furnished  interesting  reading  to 
Juarez,  into  whose  hands  it  fell  soon  after. 

Not  only  was  there  a  failure  in  the  matter  of  troops 
with  which  to  fight  the  emperor's  battles,  but  the  nec- 
essary funds  so  lavishly  promised  by  the  Church  were 
not  forthcoming,  and  there  was  a  woful  want  of  money 
for  the  support  of  the  empire.  Inasmuch  as  the  capital 
was  deemed  indefensible  and  the  Church  party  was  very 
strong  at  Queretaro,  that  place  was  selected  as  the  im- 
perial headquarters.  So,  on  the  19th  of  February,  1867, 
the  imperial  army  was  there  concentrated.  It  consisted 
of  9,000  men,  including  600  French  troops,  with  thirty^- 
nine  pieces  6f  artillery.  When  positions  were  taken, 
and  the  lines  of  defense  and  of  offense  were  considered, 
it  was  pronounced  by  the  emperor  to  be  a  "ratouera," 
or  mouse  trap. 

Tlie  foreign  troops  having  vacated  the  country,  the 

republican  armies  were  able  to  concentrate  around  Que- 

nd  after  a  siege  of  two  months  and  a  half,  dur- 

'.  hicb  time  the   imperial  army  experienced  all  the 
horrors  of  (amine  incident  to  a  total   failure  of  supplies, 

tnperor  determined  to  make  a  sortie,  and  escape  to 
the  mountains,  and  to  adopt  the  same  system  of  warfare 
which  had  been  followed  by  the  republican  troops  dur- 
oi  the  French  occupation. 

The  time  being  fixed   for  the  movement,  one  of  the 


FROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  199 

few  Mexicans  who  had  been  near  the  emperor's  person 
as  a  trusted  favorite,  traitorously  visited  the  head- 
quarters of  the  republican  army,  and  disclosed  the  plan. 
General  Escobedo,  who  commanded  the  republican 
forces,  availed  himself  of  the  information,  and  placed  a 
detail  of  his  troops  in  position  under  the  guidance  of  the 
traitor,  and  thus  secured  the  headquarters  of  the  em- 
peror. Though  there  was  some  fighting,  the  whole  im- 
perial force  was  captured  at  daylight  on  the  15th  of 
May,  1867. 

By  this  time  Juarez  had  arrived  at  San  L,uis  Potosi , 
and  there  had  his  headquarters.  From  there  he  issued 
an  order  for  the  trial  of  the  emperor  and  Generals  Mira- 
mon  and  Mejia.  A  military  court  was  convened  under 
the  decree  of  January  25,  1862,  in  which  "all  traitors 
and  invaders  of  the  country  were  condemned  to  the 
penalty  of  death."  It  consisted  of  a  lieutenant-colonel 
and  six  captains.  The  court  met  at  the  theater  Iturbide, 
in  Queretaro,  on  the  13th  of  June. 

Maximillian  was  charged  with  treason,  usurpation 
of  imperial  power  with  prolonging  the  civil  war  in 
Mexico,  with  signing  and  issuing  his  decree  of  October, 
3,  1865,  and  of  arbitrarily  disposing  of  the  lives  and  liber- 
ties of  Mexican  citizens;  and  Miramon  and  Mejia  were 
charged  as  accomplices.  Maximillian  being  unwilling 
to  endure  the  humiliation  of  public  exposure,  plead  in- 
disposition and  remained  away  from  the  court.  The 
two  generals  were  present  and  comported  themselves 
with  great  dignity. 

An  able  defense  was  made,  conducted  by  attorneys 
of  skill  and  renown  in  which  local,  international  and 
natural  laws  and  usages  were  presented  to  the  court 
together  with  logical  arguments.      But  all  was  in  vain. 


200  HI  SI  OR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

The  decree  of  October  and  the  execution  of  Arteaga  and 
Salazar  were  too  fresh  and  formidable  arguments  and 
illustrations  of  the  imperial  policy  to  be  overcome. 

The  prosecution  urged  in  the  closing  argument  that 
as  the  emperor  and  his  associates  had  been  apprehended 
with  arms  in  their  hands,  they  should  be  tried  and  con- 
demned on  the  principles  of  the  October  decree;  and  as 
they  had  treated  Arteaga  and  his  comrade,  so  they,  no 
more,  no  less,  should  be  convicted  and  executed. 

On  the  14th  inst.  the  prisoners  were  found  guilty 
as  charged  and  were  sentenced  to  death.  General 
Escobedo  approved  the  sentence,  and  after  some  delay 
as  to  the  hour  of  execution,  it  was  fixed  for  the  morn- 
ing of  the  19th.  At  6  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  that 
day  the  three  condemned  dignitaries  were  conducted  in 
carriages,  each  accompanied  by  his  confessor  to  the 
Cerro  de  las  Campanas — Hill  of  the  Bells — where  a  con- 
siderable force  of  troops  was  stationed  to  keep  at  a  dis- 
tance the  immense  multitude  which  had  assembled  to 
witness  the  execution  and  who  by  their  loud  vivas  ex- 
pressed their  sympathy  for  the  unfortunate  victims. 

Maximillian  yielded  the  place  of  honor — the  center 
—to  Miramon  as  a  tribute  to  his  bravery,  himself 
taking   the  left  of  the  line.     He  gave   presents  to  his 

utioners,  bidding  them  to  aim  at  his  body,  not  at 
his  head,  as  he  wished  his  mother  to  look  upon  his  un- 
tnarred  face.  Addressing  the  soldiers  and  the  surround- 
ing thnni-.  he  said:  ""Mexicans,  I  die  for  a  just  cause, 
the  independence  of  Mexico.  God  grant  that  my  blood 
may  bring  happiness  to  my  new  country.  Viva 
Miramon  and  Mejia  joined  with  their  "  Viva 
and  the  volley  was  fired.      Miramon  died  in- 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  20  r 

stantly,  but  another  discharge  was  required  to  execute 
the  sentence  upon  Mejia  and  the  emperor. 

Maximilliau  had  pride  as  a  soldier,  and  left  as  his 
last  words  to  his  mother,  the  one  living  person  dearest 
to  his  heart,  the  motto:  "Behold,  as  a  soldier  I  have 
performed  my  duty. ' '  Prompted  by  a  spirit  of  kindness, 
friends  had  given  him  the  false  information  that  his  be- 
loved Carlote  was  dead,  and  he  died  in  full  faith  and 
hope  of  meeting  her  immediately  beyond  the  grave. 

When  the  finding  of  the  court  and  the  dreadful 
sentence  became  known  to  the  world,  universal  sym- 
pathy was  excited,  and  from  all  directions  were  poured 
in  solicitations  for  the  pardon  of  the  condemned  emperor 
and  generals.  Representatives  of  foreign  powers,  in- 
cluding the  United  States,  joined  in  the  requests.  Gari- 
baldi and  Victor  Hugo,  from  Europe,  also  asked 
clemency. 

But  all  was  unavailing.  The  grim  singleness  o*f 
purpose  that  had  made  Juarez  great  and  admirable  in 
all  of  his  past  official  history  and  that  had  caused  him 
to  hold  the  welfare  of  the  state  as  supreme,  to  the  dis- 
regard of  ptrsonal  interests,  maintained  control  when 
mere}'  to  the  individual  meant  injustice  to  the  common- 
wealth. 

Among  the  reasons  given  for  the  refusal  were  "that 
if  Maximilliau  should  live,  his  cause  would  also  survive 
and  give  occasion  for  further  foreign  and  domestic 
uprisings  for  his  reinstatement;  that  it  would  establish 
a  dangerous  precedent  and  encourage  foreign  govern- 
ments again  to  interfere  witli  Mexican  affairs,  dictate 
her  policies  and  pursue  the  debt  created  by  the  inter- 
vention and  the  empire.  The  opportunity  was  now 
presented  to  make  it  clear   that  a  republic    could  be 


202  1I1ST0R  J '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

established  in  Mexico  with  ability  to  manage  its  affairs 
with  perfect  independence  and  with  sufficient  national 
pride  to  aim  a  blow  at  the  dogma  of  'the  divine  right 
of  kings,'  making  it  effective  by  executing  a  member 
of  one  of  the  principal  reigning  families  of  Europe  " 

The  body  of  Maximillian  was  carefully  embalmed 
and  in  clue  time  taken  to  Austria,  where  it  rests  in  the 
imperial  vault  in  the  Church  of  the  Capuchins  in  the 
city  of  Trieste. 

When  the  imperial  army  was  concentrated  at 
Queretaro,  there  were  besides  that  place  only  three 
centers  of  imperial  power,  Mexico,  Puebla  and  Vera 
Cruz.  In  March  General  Diaz  laid  siege  to  Puebla, 
which  he  captured  after  a  month  of  fighting.  The  City 
ot  Mexico  was  also  captured  by  Diaz  on  the  day  after 
the  execution  of  the  emperor,  and  Vera  Cruz  sur- 
rendered  on  the  4th  of  July  following. 

During  the  war  of  the  intervention  and  the  empire 
there  had  been  about  1,000  battles  and  skirmishes.  Of 
Mexicans  73,000  had  been  enrolled  in  the  republican 
army  and  about  15,000  as  imperialists.  It  is  computed 
that,  including  foreign  troops,  no  less  than  40,000  lives 
sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  the  ambition  of  Napoleon 
"'  •  :ini1  >"  the  vain  efforts  of  the  ecclesiastics  to 
impose  imperial  rule  and  priestly  dominion  upou  the 
Mexican  nation. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


1867  TO  tS-]2. 

Juarez  Enters  Capital — Welcome — Re-elected — 
Administration  of  Progress  and  Reform — 
Again  Elected  President  —  Dissatisfaction 
Appeased — Death  of  Juarez — Eulogy. 

Ur\N  THE  the  15th  of  July,  1867,  Juarez  made  his 
\_J  entrance  into  the  City  of  Mexico;  and  on  the 
same  day  issued  a  manifesto  to  the  effect  that 
during  the  four  years  of  his  absence  from  the  capital  he 
had  done  nothing  contrary  to  the  integrity  or  sovereignty 
of  the  republic,  nor  had  he  consented  to  any  compro- 
mise prejudicial  to  the  integrity  of  its  dominions,  and 
that  in  all  respects  he  had  sustained  the  laws  and  the 
constitution  of  the  republic  of  Mexico. 

"When  he  entered  the  capital  he  was  received  b\  a 
municipal  representation,  which  expressed  for  the  peo- 
ple of  the  city  their  gratitude  for  his  scrupulous  respect 
for  the  rights  and  goods  of  all  persons;  recognizing 
equally  the  moderation  which  he  had  shown  during  the 
war;  a  war  which  had  been  distinguished  until  recently 
by  repugnant  abuses,  levies,  forced  loans,  extortions, 
and  the  inhuman  slaughter  of  prisoners."' 

With  the  withdrawal  of  the  foreign  and  the  defeat 
of  the  native  imperial  armies,  the  president,  not  needing 
its  services  any  longer,  proceeded  to  reduce  the  army  to 

*Historia  de  Mexico. 


204  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

a  peace  footing.  This  was  not  accomplished  without 
serious  opposition,  as  many  wished  to  hold  their  offices 
and  draw  pay  and  subsistence  from  the  government. 
But  Juarez  preferred  the  welfare  of  the  country  to  the 
benefit  of  the  individual;  so  he  persisted  successfully  in 
the  reduction. 

"The  extraordinary  powers  with  which  the  presi- 
dent had  been  invested  were  exercised  to  promote  pro- 
gress and  the  national  welfare,  such  as  the  construction 
oi  railroads,  the  establishment  of  schools  of  jurisprud- 
ence, enginery,  arts,  mechanics  and  agriculture.  The 
president  took  occasion  to  carry  to  the  extreme  of  his 
authority  reforms  in  reorganizing  the  various  branches 
of  the  government.  This  was  a  hazardous  task,  as  it 
was  difficult  to  decide  upon  men  for  the  various  public 
posts  who  were  qualified  and  worthy  of  confidence." 

In  December,  1S67,  Juarez  was  elected  president 
for  the  second  time;  and  during  this  term  there  occurred 
frequent  political  disturbances,  which  in  fact  continued 
nearly  to  the  end  of  his  administration.  Revolutions 
were  begun  in  various  states,  and  a  grave  insurrection 
took  form  in  Yucatan. 

"At  the  beginning  of  1S68  the  public  insecurity 
took  alarming  proportions,  and  robberies  and  assassina- 
tions were  quite  frequent;  but  1869  began  under  more 
favorable  auspices.  The  liberal  institutions  were  more 
firmly    implanted;    and    the    administration,    being   re- 

nized  with  better  material,  pulsated  with  vigor,  and 
then-  was  hope  that  there  would  be  no  more  serious 
disturbances.  But  these  hopes  were  futile;  for  seditions 
developed  in  Puebla  and  San  Luis  Potosi.  These 
suppressed,  and  in  October  the  public  peace  was 
promoted  by  a  law  of  general  amnesty." 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  205 

But  the  presidential  election  soon  occurring  was  the 
occasion  for  disquiet.  In  that  election  Juarez  received 
5,837  votes,  Diaz  3,555,  and  Lerdo  5,874.  Neither  hav- 
ing a  majority  as  required  by  the  constitution,  congress 
was  called  to  make  the  selection.  Juarez  and  L,erdo 
united  their  forces,  and  the  former  was  duly  announced 
as  president.  The  partisans  of  Diaz  claimed  that  fraud 
had  been  practised,  and  took  up  arms  in  revolt.  Diaz, 
who  had  great  regard  for  his  old  friend  and  compatriot 
Juarez,  opposed  the  revolution  and  it  was  quieted;  but 
not  until  many  lives  were  sacrificed,  among  them  that 
of  General  Felix  Diaz,  brother  of  Porfirio,  a  soldier  who 
had  gained  victories  and  renown  in  the  war  with  the 
French. 

In  the  midst  of  the  conflict  occurred  the  death  of 
Juarez,  who  was  attacked  with  cerebral  fever  in  1870, 
but  who  was  then  saved  from  death,  although  he  had  a 
presentiment  of  his  approaching  end.  So  he  published 
a  manifesto  to  his  friends,  lamenting  that  he  should  not 
be  permitted  to  live  to  complete  the  reconstruction  of  the 
affairs  of  the  country. 

On  the  1 8th  of  July,  1872,  the  president  retired  to 
his  house  earlier  than  was  usual  with  him,  having  the 
intention  to  pass  a  part  of  the  next  day  in  the  grove  at 
Chapultepec,  where  exercise  jointly  with  a  temperate 
bath  generally  contributed  to  restore  him  to  a  normal 
.state  of  health.  In  the  night  he  had  an  attack  at  the 
heart,  and  in  spite  of  the  physician's  skill  this  grand 
man  exhaled  his  last  breath  at  1 1  o'clock  at  night,  sur- 
rounded by  his  family  and  friends.  The  sad  event  is 
thus  chronicled  in  the  history  of  Mexico: 

"The  discharge  of  artillery  proclaimed  the  minute 
in  which  the  spirit  of  the  great  chief  had  flown.     It  pro- 


2< 6  H1S1 ORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

duced  profound  sentiments  of  sorrow  among  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  capital.  Unanimously  occurred  to  them  his 
bravery  and  firmness  as  the  standard  bearer  of  the  liber- 
ties of  the  country,  his  unconquerable  faith  in  his  mis- 
sion, and  the  many  noble  qualities  of  his  head  and  of  his 
heart.  If  he  had  at  times  invaded  the  rights  of  the  na- 
tion, it  he  had  broken  the  precepts  of  the  constitution, 
the  acts  were  attributable  more  to  his  counselors  than  to 
himself.  He  was  a  man  who  bore  sarcasm  and  insult 
with  admirable  resignation,  who  never  manifested  malice 
against  his  opponents;  nor  was  he  ostentatious  in  his 
triumphs,  nor  harsh  in  his  treatment  of  enemies,  nor  did 
he  ever  exhibit  heart-burning  rancor!  He  disdained  to 
compromise.  To  traditional  prejudices  he  had  no 'attach- 
ment, and  direct  results  were  always  the  end  and  object 
of  his  political  efforts.  To  his  duties  he  gave  a  strict 
compliance.  The  tenacity  of  his  purpose  sustained  the 
republic  during  the  darkest  epoch -in  the  struggle  with 
the  French  army,  and  thereby  he  was  enabled  also  to 
maintain  his  own  dignity.  In  his  county's  gratitude 
he  has  erected  to  his  honor  a  monument  more  enduring 
than  all  the  chiseled,  engraved  and  embossed  centotaphs 
of  the  monarchs  of  Europe;  and  although  eternal  night 
obscures  his  person,  the  acts  and  character  of  Juarez 
will  endure  forever,  engraved  on  the  pages  of  history 
and  in  the  he-arts  of  all  Mexicans. "  ' 

The  patriotism  of  Juarez  was  unquestioned  and  dis- 
interested.     It    embraced   all   the  interests  of  the  state. 

#• 

In  the  interest  <>f  the  commonwealth  lie  fought  one  of 

the  world's  greatest   battles.     The  results  of  the  victory 

which  crowned   that  conflict  will  enure  to  the  benefit  of 

for  all  time.     .Such  revolutions  never  go  back- 


PROM  CORTEZ  7(9  DIAZ.  207 

ward.  In  Mexico,  as  in  Europe,  liberty  from  the  bonds 
of  ecclesiasticism  will  prove  to  be  perpetual. 

To  select  from  the  illustrious  names  which  abound 
on  the  pages  of  Mexican  history,  that  man  whose  life 
and  whose  character  best  exhibits  the  possibilities  of- 
fered to  youth  of  brain,  honesty  and  industry,  even  in 
peculiar  Mexico;  who  in  early  life  was  taught  firmness 
and  stability  by  the  motionless  snow-capped  mountains, 
quietness  and  placidity  by  the  lakes  within  the  valleys, 
patriotism  by  the  sorrows  of  his  despoiled  kindred,  and 
ambition  by  the  bright  stars  shining  over  his  head  while 
he  watched  his  herds  at  night;  the  one  whose  life  was  a 
benediction;  the  one  whose  name  is  tenderly  enshrined 
in  every  heart  and  lovingly  voiced  by  every  tongue;  for 
such  an  one,  go  to  the  adobe  hut,  the  home  of  the  lowly 
Indian  and  select  the  child  of  poverty  and  orphanage, 
the  youth  of  adversity  and  toil,  the  student  of  dilligence 
and  promise,  the  man  of  virtue  and  integrity,  the  cham- 
pion of  law  and  libert}-,  the  emancipator  of  his  nation 
from  ecclesiasticism  in  polities — Benito  Pablo  Juarez. 

In  the  Panteon  de  San  Fernando  a  noble  marble 
mausoleum  marks  the  resting  place  of  the  Lincolx  of 
Mexico.  Upon  a  dais  rests  a  sarcophagus  containing 
his  remains.  On  the  top  is  his  recumbent  statue  cold  in 
death,  over  which  a  seraphim  with  over-shadowing 
wings  stoops,  and  with  sorrowful  countenance  and  tear- 
ful eyes  testifies  a  nations  grief  at  the  mortality  of  her 
noblest  citizen — the  grandest  man  in  whose  veins  ever 
coursed  pure  aboriginal  blood. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


1872  TO  1S7S. 

Lerdo  President  —  Priest  —  Politics  —  Constitu- 
tion Amended — Anti-Church  Reforms — Jesu- 
its and  Sisters  "Go" — Lerdo's  Ambition — 
Elected  President — Counted  In  and  Out — 
Revolution — Diaz — iglesius  Assumed  Presi- 
dency— Diaz's  Revolution  Successful — Diaz 
Provisional  President — Three  Presidents — 
Diaz  Wins.  I 

UPON  the  death  of  Juarez,  Sebastian  L,erdo,  who  was 
at  that  time  president  of  the  supreme  court,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  presidency.  He  immediately  took 
the  oath  of  office  and  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  hig 
duties.  He  had  been  in  the  cabinet  of  Juarez  as 
minister  of  relations,  and  with  a  friendship  and  tenacity 
greatly  to  he  commended,  had  adhered  to  the  president 
and  shared  his  defeats  and  triumphs  through  the  years 
•  if  the  intervention  and  the  empire,  and  was  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  work  of  reform.  He  first  served  as 
president  adinterim,  but  on  the  i6thof  December,  1872, 
congress  duly  elected  him  to  serve  the  unexpired  term 
of  the  deceased  Juarez. 

I.      Lo  had  been   educated  for  the  priesthood,  but 

after  graduating  he  abandoned  the  clerical  profession 

and  adopted  that  of  law.     This   vacillation  was  not  the 

'  "I   any   defect  in  his  character,  for  he  was  a  man 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  209 

who  had  sterling  qualities  and  could  dominate  others. 
But  his  patriotism  and  his  knowledge  of  the  grievous 
wrongs  inflicted  upon  the  people  by  the  indulgence  of 
their  greed  for  power  and  money  on  the  part  of  the 
clergy  caused  him  to  adopt  his  new  profession  and  also 
to  enter  the  political  arena  where  he  could  more  effectu- 
ally render  assistance  to  Juarez  and  other  reformers 
in  the  struggle  between  Church  and  state  as  a  partisan 
of  the  liberal  school. 

With  the  fall  of  Maximillian  and  the  empire  came 
also  the  fall  of  centralism,  and  although  Juarez  did  not 
live  to  see  the  regeneration  of  the  country  in  all  its  full- 
ness, it  came  in  due  time. 

By  article  127  of  the  constitution  of  1857,  all 
amendments  to  the  same  were  to  be  adopted  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  congress  and  then  ratified  by  a  majority 
of  the  state  legislatures.  Processes  had  been  com- 
mented during  the  life  of  Juarez  which  were  completed 
in  the  time  of  L,erdo,  who  011  September  25,  1873,  by 
his  official  signature  and  proclamation  gave  full  effect 
and  authority  to  constitutional  reforms  which  had  been 
foreshadowed  in  the  decree  of  Juarez,  issued  in  July, 
1859,  at  Vera  Cruz. 

By  these  amendments  there  was  an  absolute  separa- 
tion of  Church  and  state,  and  moreover  congress  was 
prohibited  from  passing  any  law  either  favoring  or  pro- 
hibiting any  religion.  Matrimony  was  declared  to  be  a 
civil  contract,  and  the  performance  of  the  ceremony  was 
devolved  upon  the  civil  authorities.  Religious  corpora- 
tions were  prohibited  from  owning  real  estate  or  receiv- 
ing any  revenues  from  the  same,  excepting  the  ground 
actually  required  to  continue  their  legitimate  business. 
All   oaths  were    abolished  and  in  their  place  a  simple 


210  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

promise  to  perform  duty  faithfully ,  or  in  the  ease  of 
witnesses,  "to  tell  the  truth"  was  substituted.  All 
religious  orders  were  disbanded,  no  obligation  to  a 
monastic  or  other  religious  order  was  to  be  permitted, 
and  all  who  had  taken  an  oath  or  entered  into  obliga- 
tion to  perform  any  service  of  a  religious  nature  were 
absolved  from  such  oath  or  obligation. 

By  these  amendments,  and  because  of  other  clauses 
in  the  constitution  no  one  connected  with  ecclesiasticism 
is  eligible  to  the  office  of  deputy  in  congress,  president 
of  the  supreme  court  or  president  of  the  republic.  By 
their  tenor  and  construction  there  is  not  in  all  Mexico  a 
society  of  Jesuits,  Monks,  Nuns  or  Sisters  of  Charity; 
and  there  are  no  convents,  religious  orders  nor  priest- 
making  schools. 

The  Church  had  allied  itself  with  Iturbide,  with 
Centralism,  with  Santa  Anna,  with  Zuloaga  and  Mira- 
mon,  and  finally  with  the  invasion  of  the  French  and 
the  empire  of  Maximillian  in  their  determined  and 
sanguinary  efforts  to  maintain  control  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  wealth  of  the  country.  Each  and  every- 
one of  them  had  failed,  and  in  the  reaction  the  Church 
and  clergy  lost  rights  and  privileges  in  Mexico  which 
they  have  in  other  civilized  countries. 

The  radical  principles  incorporated  in  the  constitu- 
tion and  the  liberal  measures  introduced  into  the  bill  of 
rights  growing  out  of  the  same  developed  marked 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  clergy,  and  inspired  by  cx- 
communications  and  anathemas  launched  from  the 
Vatican,  the  ignorant  Indians  prepared  to  take  Tip  arms. 
In  is;  |  tlie  Jesuits,  feeling  the  effects  of  the  new 
Order  of  things,  resisted  and  displayed  great  energy  to 
stir  up  the  lues  of    fanaticism  because  of  the  coming  of 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  211 

Protestants  into  the  country  and  the  enforcement  of  the 
reforms  of  the  constitution;  but  they  fell  before  a  vigor- 
ous prosecution  of  the  law,  and  the  reaction  of  justice 
also  carried  down  all  religious  orders,  including  the 
Sisters  of  Charity,  which  had  been  tolerated  up  to  that 
time. 

All  of  the  societies  were  disbanded,  and  the  mem- 
bers who  did  not  avail  themselves  of  the  provisions  of 
the  constitution  absolving  them  from  their  obligations, 
were  banished  from  the  country.  The  traveler  in 
Mexico  to-day  fails  to  see  upon  the  streets  and  else- 
where the  black  dress  and  costume  so  familiar  in  the 
United  States.  This  will  continue  until  the  constitu- 
tion is  amended  or  ignored.  Under  the  tolerance 
granted  to  all  religions,  many  Protestant  churches 
immediately  established  their  missions  in  the  City  of 
Mexico  and  elsewhere,  and  these  are  sustained  with 
increase  of  numbers  and  influence  in  spite  of  the  Catho- 
lic crusade  against  them;  and  so  it  will  continue  until 
the  constitution  giving  this  religious  liberty  is  amended 
or  ignored.  But  there  is  scarcely  a  possibility  of  an 
ecclesiastical  reaction  to  that  end. 

The  beginning  of  the  administration  of  Lerdo  was 
marked  as  a  very  stormy  one.  Revolutions  broke  out 
in  the  north  which  embraced  several  states.  These 
were  suppressed  by  government  troops,  and  the  leaders 
were  executed.  After  this,  for  two  years  and  a  half,  the 
government  had  little  opposition. 

The  president  exhibited  signs  of  following  in  the 
footsteps  of  Santa  Anna,  in  that  he  adopted  measures 
regarding  the  states  and  their  rights  of  a  decided  dicta- 
torial nature.  He  had  a  great  desire  to  perpetuate  his 
power,  and  in  1874  exhibited  ambition  to  be  re-elected 


2 1 2  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

to  the  presidency.  To  prepare  the  way  he  issued  a 
decree  on  May  1 8th,  in, which  he  declared  that  the 
electoral  college  alone  should  decide  the  result  of  the 
vote  for  president,  thus  taking  a  constitutional  right 
away  from  the  supreme  court.  A  controversy  immedi- 
ately arose  which  involved  the  judge  of  that  court  and 
many  statesmen  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 

Peace  had  prevailed  for  an  unusually  long  period, 
but  it  was  broken  in  January,  1876,  by  General  Her.- 
nandez,  who  pronounced  against  the  government  and 
proclaimed  General  Diaz  chief  of  the  revolutionary 
forces. 

On  the  2 2d  of  March  Diaz  accepted  the  office,  and 
in  a  manifesto  declared  that  Mexico  had  been  badly 
governed  by  L,erdo,  that  the  laws  and  the  constitution 
had  been  subverted,  that  the  right  of  suffrage  had  been 
abolished,  that  elections  were  corruptly  controlled  by 
the  president  as  dictator,  that  the  courts  of  justice  had 
linn  subordinated  and  corrupted,  moreover  that  he  was 
resolved  to  overthrow  the  government  of  Lerdo  and  his 
ministers  and  to  place  the  country  under  a  provisional 
executive,  who  should  be  named  by  the  governors  of 
the  states  that  accepted  the  plan. 

Diaz  began  his  military  operations  in  Northern 
Mexico,  but  his  success  not  being  as  great  as  he  de- 
sired,  he  went  to  New  Orleans,  thence  to  Vera  Cruz  and 
finally  to  Oaxaca  in  the  south,  where  he  raised  a  suffi- 
cient force  to  meet  the  government  troops  put  in  the 
field  by  Lerdo. 

While  these  movements  were  taking  place  the  elec- 
tion for  president  occurred  on  the  26th  of  October,  1876, 
and  Lerdo  was  elected.     But  the  methods  and  procc  ises 
apparently    SO    marked    by    fraud    that  the  chief 


FROM  CORTEZ  1 0  DIAZ.  213 

justice  of  the  supreme  court,  Jose  Maria  Iglesias 
promptly  but  secretly  went  to  the  capital  and  declared 
the  election  fraudulent  and  void. 

By  this  act  and  decision  Lerdo  was  formally  de- 
posed. The  constitution  provided  that  in  case  the 
president  of  the  republic  should  be  deposed,  or  in  any 
other  manner  become  incapacitated  to  perform  the 
duties  of  his  office  then,  and  in  that  case  the  chief 
justice  of  the  supreme  court  should  become  president. 
Under  these  facts  and  laws  Iglesias  claimed  to  be  the 
legal  and  constitutional  president.  In  Guanajuato  he 
took  the  oath  of  office,  appointed  his  cabinet  and  set  up 
his  administration.      He  also  organized  an  army. 

On  the  15th  of  November  Diaz  with  his  forces  met 
the  government  troops  under  command  of  General 
Altorre  at  Tecoac,  and  gained  a  signal  victory.  He 
secured  re-enforcements  and  moved  upon  the  capital. 
Lerdo  took  alarm  and  on  the  20th  inst.  left  the  capital, 
went  to  Acapulco  and  without  formally  resigning  the 
presidency,  took  passage  for  the  United  States  and 
located  in  New  York  city,  where  he  remained  until  the 
day  of  his  death.  From  there  he  occasionally  issued 
orders  and  asserted  his  authority  as  president. 

Diaz  entered  the  capital  on  the  23d  of  the  month 
and  was  received  with  flattering  demonstrations  of 
welcome,  and  five  days  afterwards  was  installed  as 
provisional  president  on  the  principles  of  his  published 
plan. 

Mexico  now  had  three  presidents,  each  of  them 
with  adherents.  Diaz  placed  General  Mendez  in  the 
executive  chair  temporarily,  while  with  an  army  he 
moved  against  Iglesias,  who  had  been  joined  by  many 
of  Lerdo's  troops.     Without  the  shedding  of  blood  Diaz 


2  ]  4  HISTOR 1 '  I W  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

had  a  complete  victory  and  returned  to  the  capital, 
Iglesias  having  followed  the  example  of  Lerdo  and 
taken  refuge  in  the  United  States,  making  New  Orleans 
his  place  of  rest.  For  a  time  he  also  issued  presidential 
orders,  but  becoming  convinced  that  his  cause  was 
hopeless,  he  returned  to  Mexico  and  to  private  life  on 
his  good  behavior. 

The  campaign  for  the  pacification  of  the  country  by 
the  suppression  of  the  Iglesias  forces  commenced  in 
December  and  ended  in  February.  During  that  time 
state  after  state  and  army  after  army  joined  the  revolu- 
tion, and  the  inarch  of  Diaz  through  the  country  was  a 
constant  and  complete  triumph.  On  the  15th  of  Febru- 
ary at  the  capital  he  relieved  his  substitute,  General 
Mendez,  and  began  his  administration.  By  this  time 
the  states  of  the  south,  the  east,  the  west  and  the  center 
had  allied  themselves  with  the  cause  of  Diaz,  and  only 
in  tire  farthest  north  was  there  municipal  opposition. 

Still  there  were  many  statesmen  and  patriots  who 
opposed  revolutions  on  principle.  They  had  passed 
through  many  of  them  and  had  witnessed  that  the  suc- 
cessful revolutionist  often  made  his  administration  a 
personal  one.  With  the  career  and  character  of  Sairta 
Anna  fresh  iir  their  memories,  many  feared  that  Diaz 
might  rrrar  all  the  good   work  aird   retard   the  progress 

aplished  and  secured  by  the  constitution  of  1857, 
with  its  benefits  acquired  at  the  cost  of  so  much  blood. 

Diaz  considered  it  necessary  to  quiet  the  public 
apprehensions.  He  therefore  published  a  special  circu- 
lar in  which  he  pledged  himself  to  comply  with  the 
promises  set  forth  in  his  plan,  upon  principles  liberal 
and  progre  sive,  to  sustain  the  guarantees  and  to  pro- 
mote  .ill  needed  reforms;  and  that  he  would  not  permit 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  215 

anything  of  a  partisan  nature  to  hinder  his  efforts  to 
promote  the  national  welfare.  That  such  grand  ends 
might  be  secured,  he  asked  the  co-operation  of  men  of 
all  parties  and  solicited  them  to  aid  him  with  their 
views,  wisdom  and  influence. 

This  policy  which  was  so  different  from  that  of 
L,erdo,  who  was  an  egotist  and  an  exclusiveist,  pro- 
duced a  good  effect  and  captured  the  popular  favor. 

An  election  for  president  and  deputies  to  congress 
was  ordered,  and  Diaz  as  provisional  president  took 
care  that  no  frauds  were  perpetrated.  Congress  met  in 
April,  1877,  and  the  utmost  harmony  and  good  feeling 
prevailed.  One  month  afterwards  the  election  of  Diaz 
was  formally  announced,  he  having  had  an  almost 
unanimous  vote  from  200  districts.  The  people  had 
openly  elected  their  champion,  having  confidence  in  his 
patriotism  and  ability.  At  the  election  it  was  decided 
that  the  term  of  office  began  on  the  1st  of  December, 
1876,  and  ended  November  30,  1880. 

Opposed  as  he  always  was  to  all  ostentation,  Diaz 
entered  into  the  office  with  the  most  simple  forms  possi- 
ble. Moreover,  to  the  great  surprise  of  all,  he  refused, 
as  did  also  his  substitute,  Mendez,  all  compensation  for 
services  rendered  during  the  provisional  term.  The 
partisans  of  Lerdo,  with  an  army  commanded  by  Gen- 
eral Escobedo,  made  some  efforts  to  maintain  the 
struggle  in  the  northern  states,  but  without  much  effect 
upon  the  general  welfare  or  the  progress  of  the  country, 
and  with  the  capture  of  the  general  in  June,  1878,  and 
the  dispersal  of  his  forces  in  August,  and  with  the  paci- 
fication of  Alvarez  in  the  extreme  south  the  country 
was  freed  from  armed  malcontents. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


1878  TO  1880. 

Biography  of  Diaz — Success  as  President — Re- 
forms in  All  Departments — Justice — Courts- 
Army  —  Police  —  Diplomatic  —  Declines  Re- 
election. 

PORFIRIO  DIAZ  was  born  in  Oaxaca  on  the  glori- 
ous anniversary  of  Mexican  independence,  Sep- 
tember 15, 1830,  just  twenty  years  after  Hidalgo  had 
raised  "El  grito  de  dolores,"  on  the  night  of  that  date. 
His  parentage  was  of  mixed  Spanish  and  Indian  blood, 
with  a  preponderance  of  Spanish.  His  father  was  a  man 
of  good  business  capacity,  having  amassed  quite  a 
fortune.  He  was  also  distinguished  as  a  revolutionist, 
and  was  a  captain  in  the  army,  having  been  commis- 
sioned by  General  Guerrero.  His  death  by  cholera  took 
place  in  1833,  and  the  mother  was  left  to  care  for  her 
three  children.  She  was  a  woman  of  unusual  capacity, 
being  much  superior  to  the  woman  of  the  times.  Porfi- 
rio  inherited  from  his  parents  many  noble  qualities,  and 
the  mother's  great  care  and  personal  instructions  added 
to  his  excellent  impulses  of  head  and  heart,  so  that  they 
were  never  abridged  by  any  neglect  on  her  part. 

The  country  at  that  time  was  in  a  constant  state  of 
w.n,  and  the  property  of  the  family  depreciated  in  value 
BO  thai  the  mother  had  difficulty  in  maintaining  and 
edU(  ating  her  children.      Porfirio  was  placed  in  school 


PORFIRIO  DIAZ,  PRESIDENT  OF  MEXICO. 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  217 

to  be  educated  for  the  priesthood,  as  there  was  a  heredi- 
tary chaplaincy  among  the  family  assets,  and  it  was  the 
wish  of  the  dying  father  that  his  eldest  son  should  be- 
come an  ecclesiastic.  The  youthful  Diaz  made  unusual 
proficiency  in  his  studies,  and  held  a  high  rank  at  ex- 
aminations. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  personally  presented 
to  Benito  Juarez,  who  was  governor  of  the  state  of 
Oaxaca,  and  as  such  governor  visited  the  school  in 
which  Diaz  was  a  student,  for  the  purpose  of  distribut- 
ing the  premiums.  The  address  of  the  governor  was  so 
marked  with  patriotism  that  Diaz  was  charmed. 

In  a  private  conversation  with  Juarez,  had  after- 
wards, the  governor  spoke  of  the  ills  wdiich  the  country 
had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  bad 
effects  of  ill-advised  efforts  to  force  the  methods  of  Spain 
and  her  religion  upon  the  Indians  by  the  use  of  arms, 
with  such  clearness  that  the  young  student  had  his  mind 
opened,  and  saw  things  in  such  anew  and  forcible  light 
that  he  scarcely  slept  that  night.  A  friendship  grew  up 
between  Juarez  and  Diaz,  which  lasted  until  the  death 
of  the  former,  and  was  mutually  profitable. 

Diaz  had  been  reared  in  a  time  of  war,  and  while 
yet  a  child  formed  and  commanded  companies  of  boys; 
and  their  juvenile  battles  were  not  always  without 
bloody  results,  as  the  noses  and  heads  of  the  young  com- 
batants would  sometimes  testify.  When  he  was  seven- 
teen years  of  age  the  martial  spirit  of  the  country  wasfl 
excited,  and  troops  were  organized  to  resist  the  Ameri- 
cans, who  under  Generals  Taylor  and  Scott  had  con- 
quered and  occupied  the  country.  Diaz  and  his  fellow 
students  took  it  upon  themselves  to  form  a  military 
force,    whose    object   was  to    drive   out   the    invaders. 


218  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

They  proffered  their  services  to  the  governor  of  their 
state,  who  quietly  but  proudly  laid  the  written  offer 
away,  feeling  assured  that  such  valiant  youth  would 
some  day  serve  well  the  country  which  had  the  honorto 
call  them  her  children.  Diaz  passed  his  course  of  studies 
w  ith  honor,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  was  proposed  by 
the  prelate  in  charge  for  his  first  orders  and  priestly 
:e.  To  his  suprise  and  grief,  the  prospective  priest 
unced  his  determination  to  abandon  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal and  to  adopt  the  legal  profession.  So  the  prelate 
vehemently  chided  him  for  his  folly,  and  in  no  flattering 
manner  reminded  him  of  his  poverty. 

A  friend,  who  had  in  some  sense  been  his  patron 
and  financial  assistant,  added  to  the  reproof,  and  per- 
emptorily forbade  him  again  to  enter  his  house.  The 
te'ars  of  his  mother,  while  they  touched  his  heart  and 
prompted  anew  his  ambition  to  achieve  a  name  and  to 
secure  means  for  her  relief,  yet  failed  to  change  his 
plans.  He  entered  the  law  office  of  his  friend  Juarez, 
who  was  associated  in  business  with  another  of  his 
friends,  the  patriot  Perez,  where  with  such  assistance  as 
was  secured  by  his  own  efforts  as  a  teacher  he  found 
himself  on  the  road  to  distinction  and  independence, 
while  yet  a  youth. 

Having  selected  his  own  course,  he  pursued  it  until 
ached  the  high  office  of  president,  and  while  on  his 
journey  t<>  that  exalted  and  responsible  position,  as  well 
as  while  there,  he  was  able  to  deliver  many  well  directed 
and  effective  blows  to  the  destruction  of  the  political 
power  Ol  the  clergy,  and  to  render  very  valuable  assist- 
ance to  Juarez  in  his  war  upon  the  "Church  in  Politics." 
His  aid  greatly  accelerated  the  separation  of  Church  and 
sei  n  red  the  reforms  whose  enactment  preceded 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  219 

his  entrance  into  that  executive  power,  which  he  always 
administered  with  a  spirit  fully  consistent  with  the  wel- 
fare of  the  country. 

While  Diaz  was  pursing  his  studies  Santa  Anna  re- 
turned to  the  country  as  president  in  1853.  Soon  after 
Juarez  was  arrested  for  political  offenses  and  deported  to 
Cuba,  and  Perez  his  partner,  and  the  friend  of  Diaz, 
was  arrested  and  imprisoned  in  the  convent  of  Santo 
Domingo.  The  young  patriot  Diaz  and  his  brother 
Felix,  at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  availing  themselves  of 
the  favor  of  a  dark  and  stormy  night,  scaled  the  walls 
of  the  convent  and  liberated  Perez. 

Soon  after,  when  Santa  Anna  held  the  election 
which  was  to  ascertain  the  will  of  the  people  as  to  the 
continuance  of  his  dictatorial  powers,  such  frauds  were 
perpetrated  that  Diaz  openly  denounced  the  scheme  and 
the  processes;  thereby  securing  for  himself  an  order  of 
arrest  and  death.  Having  knowledge  thereof,  he  and  a 
companion  made  their  escape  to  a  friendly  guerrilla 
force  in  the  mountains,  of  which  Diaz  soon  became 
captain,  and  while  in  command  he  attacked  and  de- 
feated a  force  of  Santa  Anna's  soldiers  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. This  developed  his  military  genius  and  com- 
mitted him  to  a  life  of  arms.  He  raised  and  successfully 
commanded  troops  in  the  interest  of  the  liberal  cause 
against  Santa  Anna,  in  favor  of  Alvarez  and  Comon- 
fort;  and  when  Juarez  was  in  contest  with  Zuloaga  and 
Miramou  he  was  the  armed  ally  of  Juarez;  and  after- 
wards, when  the  Church  party  secured  the  intervention 
of  Napoleon,  and  during  the  reign  of  Maximillian ,  Diaz 
was  always  found  fighting  for  the  liberal  and  constitu- 
tional cause.  He  had  command  of  Oaxaca  and  the 
south,  and  frequently  of  all   the  cast;  ami  when  Juarez 


220  H1SIOR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

was  compelled  to  retire  to  El  Paso  during  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  country  by  the  French,  Diaz  was  left  in  com- 
mand of  two-thirds  of  the  entire  country  with  unlimited 
power  to  raise,  equip,  and  command  troops  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  president  and  the  constitution. 

He  fought  at  Puebla  with  great  distinction  and 
ability  on  the  memorable  5th  of  May,  1862,  where  the 
French  were  defeated.  He  again  joined  Ortega,  and  in 
resisting  the  combined  armies  in  1863  at  the  same  place 
was  wounded,  and  was  among  the  prisoners  there  cap- 
tured. He  made  his  escape,  raised  and  commanded 
other  troops,  was  appointed  commander-in-chief  by 
Juarez,  and  finally  defeated  the  allied  armies  of  Puebla, 
and  also  recaptured  the  capital  after  the  withdrawal  of 
the  French  troops,  and  held  it  for  the  occupation  of 
Juarez  when  his  government  was  finally  triumphant  at 
Queretaro. 

That  was  a  meeting  of  no  ordinary  character,  when 
the  distinguished  general  and  the  unconquerable  presi- 
dent met  in  the  capital,  each  with  his  distinct  honors 
resting  proudly  and  gloriously  upon  him,  the  student  of 
former  years,  now  the  successful  soldier,  and  the  gover- 
nor-preceptor, now  the  unchallenged  president  and 
world-renowned  statesman  and  reformer,  to  whom  the 
destines  of  Mexico  were  fully  committed.  Through  un- 
counted trials  and  battles  each  had  faithfully  pursued 
his  course,  until  now  in  peace  and  triumph  they  meet 
again,  to  renew  more  fully  the  confidences  and  friend- 
ships begun  so  long  ago  in  the  school  in  Oaxaca. 

While  in  the  field  and  at  intervals  of  quiet   and  in- 

U  lion  in  military  affairs,  Diaz  had  pursued  his  studies; 

iml  while  yet  an  active  soldier  he  received  his  degree  as 
advocate,  having  fully  qualified  himself  in  all  the  de- 


FROM  CO  RTF.  Z  TO  DIAZ.  221 

partments  of  .study.  It  had  been  previously  tendered 
him  because  of  his  many  good  qualities  and  distinctions, 
but  he  refused  it  until  properly  entitled  thereto. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Porfirio  Diaz  had  be- 
come the  supreme  magistrate  of  Mexico  by  force  of  arms; 
and  as  the  end  and  result  of  revolution,  it  became  a  con- 
viction widespread  among  the  people  as  his  administra- 
tion proceeded,  that  it  was  not  merely  to  gratify  a  per- 
sonal ambition  that  he  took  part  in  the  revolution,  and 
pressed  it  with  his  usual  skill  and  energy  to  a  success- 
ful conclusion.  He  had  been  too  much  of  a  patriot  and 
statesmen,  as  well  as  a  courageous  and  self-sacrificing 
soldier,  to  look  with  complacence  and  approval  upon  the 
abuse  of  power  and  disregard  of  the  constitution  and 
laws  manifested  in  the  administration  of  L,erdo. 

Having  attained  the  high  and  very  responsible  posi- 
tion of  president,  he  pursued  a  course  of  reform  in  the 
details  of  official  life  which  resulted  in  a  better  civil  ser- 
vice. He  surrounded  himself  with  the  most  able  coun- 
selors, without  regard  to  creed,  politics  or  religion;  and 
under  auspices  so  noble  the  better  part  of  the  citizen- 
ship became  united  to  support  his  administration,  losing 
for  the  time  all  party  names;  so  that  the  terms  "porfir- 
ists,"  "lerdists,"  and  "conservators"  disappeared,  and 
men  of  influence  and  ability  everywhere  gave  a  hearty 
support  to  the  president  in  the  work  which  purified 
official  life  and  secured  the  advancement  of  the  country. 

Though  in  distant  parts  of  the  commonwealth  there 
were  those  whose  profession  and  interest  it  was  and  had 
been  to  commence  and  maintain  revolutions  and  law- 
lessness, the  wise  and  patriotic  efforts  of  the  administra- 
tion to  effect  their  pacification  and  overthrow  were  so 
successful  that  after  the  first  year  of  Diaz's  administra- 


222  HISTOR Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

tion,  it  was  indisputable  that  the  country  enjoyed 
greater  repose  than  in  any  previous  period  of  the 
national  life. 

The  clergy  had  become  somewhat  reconciled  to  the 
enforcement  and  effects  of  the  new  order  of  things, 
which  they  had  vainly  opposed.  Their  political  schemes 
and  their  financial  efforts  to  uphold  the  revolution  of 
Zuloaga  and  Miramon,  the  intervention  of  Napoleon 
III.,  and  the  empire  of  Maximillian,  had  not  stemmed 
the  tide  of  reform;  and  though  they  persecuted,  they 
could  not  prevent  Protestants  from  entering  into  the  new 
fields  of  Mexico  so  recently  opened  to  their  missions. 
So  the  ecclesiastical  party  gave  Diaz  little  trouble;  and 
as  he  treated  them  with  the  consideration  due  to  their 
religious  profession,  a  very  friendly  feeling  grew  up  on 
the  part  of  the  clergy  toward  the  government.  The 
government  of  Diaz  was  a  strong  one  in  the  matters  of 
military  power,  of  conciliation,  of  devotion  to  the  public 
welfare,  of  regard  for  the  constitution  and  laws,  and  in 
the  rights  of  congress  and  the  state  governments.  His 
administration  was  in  all  things  the  opposite  to  that  of 
Santa  Anna. 

Inasmuch   as  there   were  many  soldiers  who  had 
fought   for  the  constitution  of   1857   against  native  and 
foreign  armies,  and  many  who  had  sustained   the  revo- 
lution also,  who  were  suffering  from  wounds  and  disa- 
bilities,  and  as  there  were  many  widows  and  orphans  of 
the  martyrs  who  had  fallen  in  those  wars,  it  became  the 
11  as  the  duty  of  Diaz  to  provide  for  their  wel- 
ind  support   by  a  liberal  system  of  pensions.     He 
lused  the  issue  of  medals  of  honor  to  patriots  who 
had  rendered  military  services,  which,  all  things  being 
equal,  entitled    them  to  preference  over  others  in  posi- 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  223 

tions  of  profit,  honor  and  trust  in  the  government  which 
they  had  successfully  maintained  at  the  month  of  the 
cannon  en  the  field  of  battle. 

For  the  protection  of  the  peace,  and  to  secure  the 
safety  of  the  country  against  robbers  and  bandits,  a 
system  of  rural  guards  was  established,  wherein  many 
of  the  patriot  soldiery  found  position  and  service.  The 
diplomatic  corps  was  purified,  and  new  treaties  were 
made  with  other  nations,  and  many  old  ones  were  re- 
vised, whereby  advantages  were  secured  and  abuses 
were  corrected,  all  to  the  welfare  of  the  commonwealth. 

To  all  these  beueficieut  and  patriotic  acts  was  added 
a  wise  and  progressive  system  of  education.  Encourage- 
ment was  given  to  business  enterprises,  whereby  the 
country  was  placed  on  the  highway  of  prosperity. 
Facilities  for  transportation  by  railroads  and  interior 
canals  were  provided,  and  subsidies  were  judiciously 
granted  to  steamship  lines,  which  aided  much  in  the 
upbuilding  of  domestic  and  foreign  commerce. 

That  the  country  might  receive  all  the  revenues 
arising  from  external  commerce  and  importations,  a 
very  extensive  system  of  frauds  upon  the  customs  which 
had  grown  up  by  the  neglect  and  indifference  of  previ- 
ous administrations,  whereby  millions  of  dollars  had 
been  lost  to  the  treasury,  was  broken  up  and  corrected. 
Thus  all  departments  of  service  and  all  sources  of  reve- 
nue were  placed  in  a  high  degree  of  perfection  in  the 
interest  of  the  Mexican  people. 

The  department  of  justice  was  also  investigated 
with  salutary  results.  Under  feeble  and  corrupt  laws 
and  rules  of  practice,  abuses  had  grown  up,  so  that 
criminals  escaped  the  penalties  due  their  offenses,  and 
the  legal  processes  were  often  made  to  advance,  rather 


224  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

than  suppress  crime,  which  had  taken  terrible  propor- 
tions. This  state  of  moral  turpitude  was  very  much 
favored  by  the  civil  wars  and  disorders  which  had  so 
generally  prevailed,  and  by  distinctions  of  class.  It  had 
also  been  much  encouraged  and  increased  by  the  ease 
and  facility  with  which  absolution  for  all  kinds  of  crime 
could  be  obtained  from  the  clergy. 

President  Diaz  made  effort  to  put  a  stop  to  this 
lawlessness  by  the  administration  of  prompt  and  strict 
justice;  and  to  that  end  he  established  penitentiaries, 
and  actively  prosecuted  and  punished  all  violators  of 
law,  without  benefit  of  clergy.  He  reorganized  the 
police  system  throughout  the  cities,  and  organized  a 
system  of  rural  guards  in  the  country  districts,  and  so 
impressed  even  the  old  bandits  with  the  rights  and 
terrors  of  the  government  and  the  law  that  they  enlisted 
in  the  cause  of  justice,  and  became  valuable  and  faith- 
ful conservators  of  peace,  of  law  and  of  order.  Diaz  em- 
ployed one  thief  to  suppress  and  capture  other  thieves, 
making  it  to  their  interest  so  to  do. 

It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion,  when  Diaz  was  en- 
joying the  relaxation  of  a  hunting  trip,  he  entered  the 
house  of  a  native,  where  he  saw  some  rats  imprisoned  in  a 
box.  The  president  inquired  why  they  were  thus  con- 
fined, and  if  they  were  intended  to  be  used  as  food?  The 
answer  was,  that  they  were  not  intended  to  be  used  as 
in  addition  to  the  meat  food  of  the  family,  but  as  rat  ex- 
terminators. "I  low  so?"  said  the  interlocutor.  "Well," 
said  the  ranchero,  "we  keep  the  rats  until  they  are 
nearly  starved,  then  we  turn  them  loose,  and  in  their 
famish*  '1  condition  they  eagerly  seize  upon  the  first  rat 

h  they  find,  and  ravenously  devour  him;  this  de- 
velops an  appetite  on  their  part  for  rat  meat,  which  they 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  225 

gratify  by  pursuing  and  devouring  their  fellows  as  long 
as  there  are  any  in  and  about  the  premises.  Thus  we 
use  one  rat  to  catch  other  rats,  and  so  rid  our  premises 
of  them  all." 

The  president  was  at  that  time  greatly  exercised 
and  annoyed  by  the  number  and  extent  of  robberies  and 
other  outrages  committed  by  bandits  throughout  the 
entire  country.  The  thought  occurred  to  try  their  ex- 
termination on  the  rat  plan.  It  was  plausible  and  ap- 
parently feasible,  and  so  he  sent  a  confidential  agent  to 
the  chief  of  a  notorious  gang  of  outlaws,  and  with 
promise  of  personal  safety  induced  him  to  come  to  a  con- 
ference at  the  executive  office. 

The  result  was  the  organization  of  the  "rural 
guards,"  as  a  special  corps  of  semi-military,  semi-civil 
conservators  of  law  and  order,  which  was  commanded 
by  the  outlaw  chief  himself,  and  was  composed  in  part 
of  all  the  bandits  in  the  country.  They  were  clothed, 
armed,  equipped,  mounted,  subsisted  and  paid  on  such 
a  liberal  scale  that  they  found  it  profitable  to  keep  the 
peace  of  the  country  themselves,  and  to  enforce  order 
even  among  their  old  comrades  in  all  parts  of  the  land. 
Their  knowledge  of  the  roads  and  recesses  of  the  country 
enabled  them  to  hunt  down  promptly  and  secure  the  ar- 
rest and  punishment  of  offenders,  so  that  Mexico  has 
become  as  secure  a  country  for  travel  as  any  other  of 
civilized  time  or  history;  with  all  these  reforms  there 
ensued  a  reign  of  peace,  order,  and  security  hitherto  un- 
known in  the  republic. 

Under  the  direction  of  Diaz,  the  laws  of  Mexico 
were  codified  for  the  first  time.  Previously  they  had 
been  a  confused  mixture  of  loose  and  contradictory  de- 
crees from  colonial  times,  with  subsequent  additions  of 

15 


226  HIS'l  OR  ) '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

the  same  style.  He  also  reformed  the  irregular  modes 
of  proceedure,  which  in  many  cases  was  suspiciously 
secret.  The  judicial  system  was  remodeled,  and  courts 
of  inferior  and  superior  jurisdiction  were  established,  so 
that  law,  order,  and  system  took  the  place  of  the  dis- 
order and  uncertainty  which  had  so  long  prevailed. 

As  to  his  relation  to  the  cult  of  the  times,  Diaz 
was  strict  with  respect  to  the  exercise  of  individual 
opinions  and  creeds.  Though  he  was  very  little  im- 
bued personally  with  faith  in  religious  dogmas,  being 
quite  liberal,  even,  it  is  said,  to  agnosticism,  yet  he  con- 
ceded to  all  perfect  liberty  of  thought  and  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  their  rights  and  devotions,  to  be  exercised  in 
the  form  and  manner  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed. 
And  this  is  the  reason  why  he  had  numerous  friends 
and  followers  in  the  clerical  party,  for  they  knew  that 
he  would  protect  them  against  all  exactions  which 
passed  the  limits  fixed  by  the  laws  of  reform. 

One  of  the  principal  causes  of  political  intrigues 
which  led  to  revolution  and  anarchy  was  the  desire  of  a 
president  to  succeed  himself  in  office.  That  this  temp- 
tation should  be  removed  the  constitution  was  amended 
on  May  5,  1X78,  by  adding  an  article  which  prohibited 
the  election  of  presidents  and  governors  of  states  for 
consecutive  periods.  In  spite  of  this,  on  the  approach 
of  the  time  for  election  in  1880,  various  states  united  in 
.1  movement  to  continue  the  executive  power  in  the 
hands  of  a  man  so  eminently  qualified  to  promote  the 
interests  of  the  commonwealth,  and  to  avoid  exposing 
tin-  country  to  the  peril  of  reaction  under  a  chief  less  apt 
and  honorable.  But  Diaz  remained  firm  in  the  promises 
and  pledges  he  had  given,  to  obey  the  law.  Therefore 
he  positively  declined  a  re-election. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


1880  TO  1894. 

Gonzalez  Ppesident  —  Policies  —  Clerical  and 
Jesuitical  Lawlessness — The  Law  Sustained 
—  Diaz  President  —  Resume  op  Executive 
Powers  —  Duties  Well  Performed  —  Mexico 
Has  Peace  and  Prosperity — Diaz  Has  Three 
Continuous  Terms — General  Statements  as 
to  the  Rights  and  Hopes  op  the  Country. 

AMONG  the  aspirants  for  the  presidency  to  succeed 
Diaz  was  General  Manuel  Gonzalez,  first  military- 
officer  of  the  government  who  had  been  the  able 
assistant  of  General  Diaz  in  some  of  his  campaigns,  and 
who  by  his  opportune  arrival  on  the  field  at  Tecoac,  had 
greatly  contributed  to  the  victory  at  that  battle,  and  had 
lost  his  good  right  arm  in  the  service  of  his  country. 
He  had  the  support  of  the  friends  of  Diaz  in  his  candi- 
dacy and  in  due  time  congress  announced  his  election. 
He  was  inaugurated  on  the  1st  of  December,  1880. 

He  received  the  country  in  a  state  of  perfect  peace 
and  in  a  career  of  prosperity  unexampled  in  the  history 
of  the  commonwealth,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  no 
important  rovolutions  occurred  during  his  entire  term. 
Still  there  were  local  disturbances  in  some  cities  and 
districts  where  the  Catholics  stirred  up  the  fires  of 
fanaticism  because  of  the  establishment  of  churches  and 
schools  by  the  Protestants;  but  the  protection  guaranteed 


228  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

to  them  by  the  laws  and  the  constitution  was  promptly 
and  effectually  given  by  the  officers  of  the  law,  and  the 
schools  and  missions  were  continued. 

This  absence  of  revolution  and  the  feeble  and  in- 
effectual attempt  at  ecclesiastical  persecution  was  a  clear 
demonstration  of  the  peace  of  the  country  and  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  state  over  the  church,  and  that  the 
clergy  were  learning  to  appreciate  and  respect  the  new 
order  of  things  in  progressive  Mexico. 

To  assist  in  the  administration  of  affairs  Diaz 
accepted  a  portfolio  in  the  cabinet  of  Gonzalez  for  a  short 
time,  and  by  his  aid  the  peace  and  development  of  the 
country  continued.  Some  new  business  enterprises 
were  commenced  and  others  continued,  but  many  citi- 
zens became  hostile  to  the  administration  for  real  or 
fancied  errors  in  the  matter  and  manner  of  conducting 
the  treasury  department,  but  Gonzalez  maintained  his 
policies  until  the  close  of  his  term,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Diaz,  who  had  a  vote  of  15,969  out  of  a  total 

of    I ''.462. 

On  the  1st  of  December  1884,  Diaz  was  inaugurated 
president  for  the  second  time.  Dressed  sensibly  in 
black  and  escorted  by  a  small  guard  he  appeared  in  the 
national  palace  and  in  the  presence  of  senators,  deputies, 
public  functionaries  and  the  diplomatic  corps,  took  the 
oath  of  office  and  retired  as  tranquilly  as  he  had  entered. 
Upon  him  devolved  special  duties  and  obligations,  in 
-'<]))<■  measure  arising  from  the  embarassed  condition  of 
tin-  finances,  that  chronic  complaint  of  Mexico;  but  he 
so  applied  himself  to  the  work  that  order  took  the  place 
"f  confusion,  the  credit  of  the  nation  appreciated  with 
rapidity  and  her  finances  became  greatly  relieved. 

Notwithstanding  the  limitations  of  the  constitution 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  229 

the  president  of  Mexico  is  possessed  of  great  power 
whereby  he  can  make  or  mar  the  welfare  of  the  country. 
His  control  of  the  arm}-  and  his  right  to  appoint  chiefs 
and  to  remove  them  greatly  exceeds  the  power  vested 
in  the  president  of  the  United  States.  His  control  of 
cabinet  officers  is  very  great,  and  his  right  to  name 
officers  of  the  diplomatic  corps  is  full  and  ample.  His 
power  in  treatj^-making  and  also  in  levying  tariff  duties 
exceeds  that  of  any  other  national  executive.  The 
establishment  of  custom  houses  is  largely  discretionary 
with  him,  as  is  also  the  right  to  open  or  close  ports.  He 
has  also  ample  pardoning  power.  Add  to  this  a  de- 
cided influence  in  the  greater  part  of  the  states  by 
measures  of  supervising  their  elections  and  substantially 
of  naming  their  governors,  his  military  dispositions  and 
his  supervision  of  the  public  peace  by  direct  action  of 
independent  representatives  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
that  the  army  is  entirely  under  his  view  as  chief, 
and  his  ability  to  direct  its  movements,  nominate  offi- 
cers and  regulate  to  a  certain  point  its  pay  and  accom- 
modations, and  the  power  of  the  president  will  be  seen 
to  attain  vast  proportions. 

But  so  wisely  had  Diaz  fulfilled  his  duties  and  ex- 
ercised his  discretionary  powers  that  in  his  second  term 
that  part  of  the  constitution  which  forbade  the  re-elec- 
tion of  presidents  for  consecutive  terms  was  rescinded, 
and  thus  privileged,  the  people  of  Mexico  have  kept 
him  in  the  office  of  chief  executive  for  three  continuous 
terms,  his  last  being  for  a  tenure  ending  in  1S96.  Under 
his  most  excellent  administration  the  country  is  more 
secure  from  revolution  and  strife  and  enjoys  more  the 
confidence   of   foreign    nations  as  to  its  stability    and 


230  HIS'J  OR } '  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

permanence  than   ever  before  since  it  became  an  inde- 
pendent nation. 

With  peace  and  security,  capital  and  enterprise, 
have  become  emboldened  to  seek  a  place  of  investment 
and  action  and  under  the  inspiring  genius  and  the 
directing  hand  of  the  president,  new  resources  have 
been  developed  and  new  methods  of  business  adopted 
in  agriculture,  mining,  manufacturing  and  transporta- 
tion, which  under  the  benign  influence  of  peace  and 
security,  have  only  to  contend  with  the  laws  of  trade 
and  competition,  instead  of  the  bandit  and  the  revolu- 
tionist of  a  few  years  ago.  From  being  a  nation  at  war 
within  itself  and  against  itself,  it  has  ceased  all  warlike 
strife.  From  being  the  field  where  ambitious  and  un- 
scrupulous politicians  elevated  themselves  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  blood  and  treasure  of  the  people,  it  has 
become  the  land  of  self-sacrificing  public  servants  waa 
care  for  the  elevation  of  their  fellow-citizens  and  oi  the 
commonwealth. 

The  military  spirit  of  the  citizen  has  been  direcico 
to  the  maintainance  of  the  public  peace,  and  individ 
security,  instead  of  being  prostituted  to  the  overthrew 
of  the  government  and  the  elevation  of  political  aspi- 
rants, which  had  been  the  case  from  the  eia  oi'  inde- 
pendence until  the  era  of  reform. 

Since  the  separation  of  church  and  state  educa:"o-i 
lias  made  vast  strides  in  Mexico.  Her  statesmen  ha  ,<i 
nized  the  fact  that  the  stability  of  the  republic 
depends  upon  the  enlightenment  of  the  masses,  and  the- 
trend  of  legislation  has  been  constantly  in  the  right 
direction.  In  proportion  to  her  financial  ability  Mexico 
is  fostering  popular  education,  and  in  her  toleration  oi 
n    Instructors  and   schools  shows  thai;  liberty  ci 


FROM  COR1EZ  TO  DIAZ.  231 

conscience  is  becoming  more  and  more  a  fact,  and  that 
fanaticism  is  giving  place  to  enlightened  love  of  liberty 
and  truth. 

The  advance  in  these  directions  for  the  past  twenty 
years  is  most  gratifying,  and  more  has  been  accomp- 
lished along  those  lines  during  these  years  than  in  all 
the  previous  years  of  Mexican  history.  There  are  free 
schools  wherever  there  is  sufficient  population,  and 
attendance  under  certain  conditions  is  compulsory. 
The  Church  no  longer  has  any  supervision  and  its 
interference,  even  to  the  slightest  degree,  would  not  be 
tolerated  and  no  clergyman  is  allowed  upon  any  of  the 
boards  of  public  instruction. 

No  public  interest  has  claimed  more  attention  from 
President  Diaz  than  the  school  system,  and  under  his 
direction  surprising  and  gratifying  progress  has  been 
made.  System  prevails  and  all  departments  are  for- 
warded with  public  funds,  private  contributions  and 
personal  encouragement. 

The  experience  of  the  nation  has  demonstrated  the 
wisdom  of  the  separation  of  church  and  state.  The 
Church  has  had  opportunity  to  attain  a  degree  of  purity 
since  divested  of  its  great  possessions,  and  since  de- 
prived of  its  political  power,  and  the  state  has  become 
stronger  since  becoming  free  from  ecclesiastical  inter- 
ference. Experience  has  also  demonstrated  the  wisdom 
of  having  the  state  assume  the  control  of  education, 
the  providing  by  law  for  asylums,  hospitals  and  sana- 
tariums  and  assigning  to  the  Church  solely  its  spiritual 
functions;  and  it  has  been  found  that  each  interest  thus 
assigned  has  received  greater  care  and  consideration. 

Mexico  is  a  republic  in  a  limited  sense  only.  The 
word  "republic"  signifies  a  government  of  the  people 


232  HIS1  OR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

in  which  the  sovereign  power  is  delegated  to  the  hands 
of  representatives  elected  by  the  masses.  In  reality 
Mexico  is  a  confederation  of  states  governed  by  an 
aristocracy,  a  government  which  approximates  an 
autocracy,  but  without  the  hereditary  feature  attached. 
In  view  of  the  tendency  of  an  appeal  from  the  ballot 
box  to  the  field  of  battle  on  the  part  of  defeated  candi- 
dates when  two  or  more  parties  had  contended  for  popu- 
lar favor,  it  has  been  considered  wise  and  as  providing 
for  the  public  peace  to  restrict  the  forming  of  distinct 
and  contending  political  parties. 

Therefore  the  government  perpetuates  itself  by  con- 
centrating into  one  party,  as  far  as  possible,  all  who  have 
talent  as  statesmen  and  all  who  are  of  high  order  in  the 
army.  A  judicious  censorship  of  the  press  is  also 
exercised,  and  thus  the  welfare  of  the  country  is  re- 
tained in  the  hands  of  the  few.  No  public  meetings  of 
political  character  are  permitted,  and  no  public  dis- 
cussion of  the  principles  or  methods  of  the  administra- 
tion can  therefore  be  tolerated. 

Daily  a  telegraphic  dispatch  is  received  at  adminis- 
tration headquarters  from  all  parts  of  the  country  re- 
porting the  condition  of  each  locality  as  to  political  or 
criminal  disturbance,  and  from  the  government  prompt 
instructions  are  given  to  correct  wrongs  with  the  force 
at  hand  if  sufficient.  If  necessary  re- enforcements  can 
be  ordered  to  aid  the  civil  and  military  powers,  and 
thus  by  prompt  action  outbreaks  are  suppressed.  The 
president  thus  has  his  hand  upon  the  public  pulse  at  all 
times. 

The  population  of  Mexico  is  estimated  at  12,000,000, 
and  it  is  probable,  considering  the  lack  of  education, 
the  want  of  social  organization  andthepoverty  and  lack 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ,  233 

of  business  qualifications  and  habits  of  the  people,  that 
less  than  one-fourth  of  them  are  represented  at  a  post- 
office  to  send  or  receive  letters.  Three-quarters  of  the 
people  are  Indians,  or  intimately  related  to  them  in 
mixture  of  blood,  and  as  a  class  are  such  as  in  the 
United  States  would  not  be  allowed  to  exercise  the 
elective  franchise. 

It  is  claimed  by  Mexican  statesmen  that  universal 
suffrage  without  discrimination  is  unjust;  that  to  give 
the  elective  franchise  to  a  population  who  are  incapable 
of  making  a  wise  use  of  it  is  absurd;  that  to  give  the 
humble,  ignorant  negro  or  peon,  who  is  scarcely  re- 
moved from  the  conditions  of  slavitude,  an  equal  voice 
in  national  affairs  with  an  educated  man  of  the  middle 
class,  who  is  a  master  of  business  or  a  thinker,  is  evi- 
dently an  injustice;  and  to  concede  an  equal  participa- 
tion in  politics  to  the  vicious  ragamuffin  beggar — who  is 
asking  charity,  who  has  no  occupation  and  nothing  at 
issue,  and  consequently  has  very  few  sensible  ideas  and 
no  will  to  maintain  order  or  to  increase  the  common 
prosperity,- as  to  the  man  of  energy  and  business 
capacity  who  has  propert)' — is  also  an  injustice.  They 
hold  that  it  is  wise  to  restrict  the  right  to  vote  to  those 
who  are  possessed  of  goods  and  are  educated.  This  re- 
striction excludes  only  the  dangerous  elements,  and  it 
also  promotes  reform  and  elevation  and  stimulates  to 
efforts  to  overcome  the  stigma  of  ignorance  and  pauper- 
ism, and  inspires  many  to  seek  their  own  elevation. 

Gradually  the  people  are  taking  more  interest  in 
public  affairs  in  their  immediate  localities  and  moving 
onward  to  acquire  the  needed  qualifications  for  partici- 
pation in  political  matters  generally. 

Still  it  is  probable  that  at  this  time  there  is  scarcely 


234  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

one  in  ten  of  the  inhabitants  who  possess  qualifications 
for  the  intelligent  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise. 
Mexico  is  in  a  state  of  evolution,  and  all  depends  upon 
the  government  whether  the  country  has  prosperity  and 
development,  or  the  reverse. 

The  army  of  Mexico  numbers  about  42,000  men. 
There  is  also  an  unpublished  number  of  rural  guards, 
who  are  located  throughout  the  entire  country  to  act  as 
a  police.  They  are  specially  located  upon  the  lines  of 
railroads  and  a  squad  of  them  stands  at  "attention"  on 
the  arrival  of  trains  at  stations  to  secure  immunity  from 
raids  of  robbers  and  under  their  influence,  and  as  a  re- 
sult of  their  vigilance,  the  peace  and  security  of  Mexi- 
can travel  and  tour  is  as  great  as  in  the  United  States 
or  Europe. 

Without  doubt  a  well  organized  and  wisely  com- 
manded army  is  a  necessity  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the 
country,  and  it  is  the  wish  of  all  classes  and  of  all  par- 
ties that  military  power  should  be  invoked  to  that  wise 
and  profitable  end,  at  the  discretion  of  the  president,  to 
whom  they  have  learned  to  look  for  the  cessation  of 
war.  intestinal  war,  wherein  brother  has  shed  the  blood 
of  brother  and  the  son  has  murdered  his  father, 
only  to  forward  the  personal  ambitions  of  men  who 
wished  to  secure  position  and  power;  the  great  clamor 
of  the  people  has  been  for  the  cessation  of  this  mutual 
murder,  Hint  the  public  peace  should  be  preserved,  that 
thieves  should  be  arrested,  that  organized  bands  of 
robbers  should  be  overthrown,  that  smugglers  and  con- 
trabandists should  be  suppressed  and  punished,  and 
that  the  hydra  of  revolution  should  be  destroyed.  For 
the  attainment  of  all  these  desirable  aims  a  permanent 
army  is  a  necessity,  audit  is  probable  that   when  these 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  D/.1Z.  235 

beneficent  results  have  been  attained,  and  when  they 
have  prevailed,  until  by  reason  of  mental,  moral  and 
spiritual  education,  the  people  have  settled  into  new 
lines  of  thought  and  custom,  the  sovereign  power  of  the 
nation  can  be  consigned  to  their  hands  directly. 

United  with  Juarez  as  the  saviour  of  the  country 
from  the  consuming  and  destroying  power  of  ecclesi- 
asticism,  the  liberator  of  the  south  and  the  center, 
giving  effective  death-blows  to  imperialism  in  the  last 
days  of  the  war  of  reform,  Diaz  has  proved  to  be  the 
rightful  custodian  of  the  wonderful  power  vested  in  the 
hands  of  the  president  of  the  Mexican  republic. 

Under  his  administration  the  country  has  attained 
the  complete  and  happy  consummation  of  intellectual 
liberty  and  progress,  of  which  Hidalgo  and  Morelos 
dreamed,  for  which  Farias  and  Comonfort  contended, 
and  which  began  to  be  established  and  enjoyed  under 
the  administration  of  the  immortal  Juarez. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  GOVERNORS  OF  MEXICO. 

Fernando  Cortez,  captain  general 1523 

Louis  Ponce,  captain  general 1526 

Marcos  Auguilar,  captain  general 1526 

Alonzo  de  Estrada,  captain  general 1527 

FIRST    AUDIENCIA. 

Xuno  de  Guzman,  president 1528 

SECOND    AUDIENCIA. 

Sebastian  Ramirez,  president 1531 

VICEROYS. 

Antonio  de  Mendoza,  first  official 1535 

Various  viceroys,  sixty-two  in  number,  up  to  Juan 

O'Donoju,  sixty-fourth  and  last 1821 

Independence  of  Mexico,  September  28,  1821. 

imperial  regency. 
Iturbide,  O'Donoju,    Bareena,   Perez,   (a  bishop,) 
Yanez,   Velasquez,   Bravo   and  Vallentin,  in- 
stalled, September  28, 1821 

Tine   EMPIRE. 
Eturbide  crowned  emperor  of  Mexico,  July  21, ... .  1822 
Abdication  of  Iturbide,  March  20, 1823 

EXECUTIVE    POWER. 
Victoria,  Bravo,  Negrete  and  Guerrero,    installed, 

March  31 , 1823 


FROM  CORTEZ   TO  DIAZ.  237 

REPUBLIC   OF    MEXICO. 

Guadalupe  Victoria,  president,  October  10, 1S24 

Vincent  Guerrero,  president,  April   1 , 1829 

Jose  M.  Bocanegra,  provisional   president,    Decem- 
ber 16, 1829 

EXECUTIVE   POWER. 
Pedro  Velez,  Lucas  Alman  and   Louis  Quintanar, 

December, 1 829 

Anastasia    Bustamente,    vice-president,     assumed 

power  January  1 , .  .  . 1830 

Melchor  Muzquiz,  provisional  president,  August  14,  1832 

Gomez  Pedraza,  president,  December  24, 1832 

Valentin  Gomez  Farias,  vice-president,  April  1, . .  .  1833 

Santa  Anna,  president,  May  15, 1833 

Miguel  Barragau,  provisional   president,  January, 

28, 1835 

Jose  Justo  Carro,  provisional  president,   February 

27, 1836 

Anastasia  Bustamente,  president,  April  19 1836 

Javier  Echeverria,  provisional  president, 1841 

Santa  Anna,  provisional  president, 1S41 

Nicholas  Bravo,  provisional  president, 1842 

Santa  Anna,  president,  June  3, 1843 

Valentin  Canalizo,  provisional  president, ^44 

Jose  Joaquin  Herrera,   provisional   president,    De- 

.     cember  5,     1844 

Jose  Joaquin  Herrera,  president,  September  16,  ...  1845 
Jose  Maria   Paredes,   provisional    president,  Janu- 
ary 3 1846 

Nicholas  Bravo,  provisional  president,  July  2S, ....  1S46 
Jose  Marino  de  Salas,   provisional  president,  Aug- 
ust 22, 1846 


HIS'JORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

Santa  Anna,  provisional  president,  December  23, . .  1846 

Gomez  Farias,  ad  interim,  January, 1847 

Pedro  Maria  Anaya,  substitute,  April  2, 1847 

Santa  Anna,  resumed  the  office,  May, 1847 

Manuel   Pena  y  Pena,   provisional  president,   Sep- 
tember 26, J847 

Pedro  Maria  Anaya,  ad  interim,  November  12, ...  .  1847 
Manuel    Pena   y   Pena,    president   supreme   court, 

January  8, 1848 

Jose  Joaquin  Herrera,  president,  June  3, 1848 

Mariana  Arista,  president,  January  15, 1851 

Jean  Ceballos,  president  supreme  court,  January  6, .  1853 
Manuel    M.    Lombardino,    provisional    president, 

February  7, 1853 

Santa  Anna,  dictator,  April  20, 1853 

Diaz  de  la  Vega,  provisional  president,  August  9, .  .  1S55 
Martin  Carrero,  provisional  president,  August  15, . .  1855 
Diaz  de  la  Vega,  provisional  president,  September, 

", 1855 

Juan  Alvarez,  ad  interim,  October  4, J855 

Iguatio  Comonfort,   provisional  president,   Decem- 
ber 8 1855 

Ignatio  Comonfort,  president,  December  1 J857 

Benito  Juarez,  president  supreme  court,  January  10,  1858 

Benito  Juarez,  president, 1861 

Benito  Juarez,  president,  December, 1867 

Benito  Juarez,  president,  October, 1870 

(I'])  to  day  of  his  death,  July  18,) 1872 

Sebastian    Lcrdo,   president  of  supreme  court,    as- 
sumed executive  office,  July  18, 1872 

Sebastian  I,erdo,  president,  December  16 1872 

Jose  Maria  Iglesias,  revolutionary  president,  Octo- 
ber,   !876 


FROM  COR7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  239 

Porfirio  Diaz,  provisional  president.  December,  ..  .1876 

Porfirio  Diaz,  president,  April  2, x877 

Manuel  Gonzalez,  president,  December  1 1880 

Porfirio  Diaz,  president,  December  1, 1884 

Porfirio  Diaz,  president,  December  1, 1888 

Porfirio  Diaz,  president,  December  1, 1892 

(Term  will  expire,  November  30,) 1896 

QUASI   EXECUTIVES. 
Felix  Zuloaga,  revolutionary  president,  January  22,  1858 
Robles  Pezuela,  provisional  president,  December, .  .  1858 

Jose  M.  Pavon,  president  of  supreme  court, 1859 

Manuel  Miramon,  provisional  substitute, 1859 

Felix  Zuloaga,  president,  resumed  power i860 

Manuel  Miramon,  president i860 

FRENCH    INVASION. 

Juan  N.  Almonte,  provisional  president,  appointed 

by  the  French  general,  Iyaureucez, 1862 

Regency  appointed  by  French  general,  which  de- 
cided for  an  empire, 1863 

Maximillian  crowned  emperor,  April  10, 1864 

(Executed,  June  19, 1867 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


M 


MISCELLANEOUS   FACTS. 

KXICO  with  about  5,000  miles  of  coast  and  several 
harbors  has  no  navy  and  only  a  few  harbor 
vessels.  Though  she  has  the  castle  of  San 
Juan  d'Ulua,  which  cost  the  Spanish  government 
$40,000,000,  and  the  castle  of  Perote,  a  scientifically 
constructed  fortress  covering  more  than  forty  acres  of 
ground,  and  has  a  fortress  at  Acapulco  of  the  same 
character,  and  has  forts  in  other  parts  of  her  territory; 
she  lias  not  a  single  cannon  mounted,  either  in  the  in- 
terior or  on  the  coasts. 

San  Juan  d'Ulua  is  used  as  a  prison  where  mur- 
derers  and  others  of  the  worst  criminal  classes  are  con- 
fined and  guarded,  but  not  a  gun  is  mounted  to  de- 
li nd  the  harbor  or  city  of  Vera  Cruz. 

Mexico  is  not  a  warlike  nation  and  her  adjoining 
neighbor  on  the  south,  Guatemala,  is  a  feeble  power 
and  has  no  warlike  record  or  schemes. 

The  United  States  on  the  north  has  no  policy  of 
acquisition.  Mexico  can  safely  rest  under  the  guardian- 
ship   of   the    Union,     which    maintained    the    Monroe 

rine  in  her  behalf  against  Napoleon  III.  and  his 
Catholic  allies;  and  it  is  this  assurance  in  that  regard 
which  protects  the  American  coasts  from  Canada  on  the 
north  to  tin- straits  of  Magellan  on  the  south;  and  it  is 
s<.  u^ll   appreciated   that  all  of  the  American  republics 

thereon  fearlessly,  and  it  is  this  which  caused  Brazil 


"BELLE  OF  OAXACA." 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ,  241 

recently  to  prepare  a  monument  and  statue  to  the  inter- 
national policy-maker,  James  Monroe 

Since  the  era  of  reform  about  5,000  miles  of  rail- 
roads have  been  built  in  Mexico,  with  surveys  for  a 
great  extension  of  that  system  of  communication.  Thus 
the  outside  world  has  been  introduced  to  the  people  and 
the  country.  The  natural  result  will  be  the  permanence 
of  the  reforms,  the  improvement  of  business,  the  better 
education  of  the  people  and  the  maiutainance  of  the 
progressive  policies  of  the  government. 


It  is  estimated  that  6,000,000  or  7,000,000  of  Mexi- 
cans speak  their  native  language,  and  the  greater  num- 
ber of  these  can  speak  no  other.  They  can  neither  read 
nor  write  nor  ever  had  an  ancestor  who  could;  thej^ 
never  slept  in  a  bed  nor  wore  stockings,  either  having 
feet  entirely  bare  or  shod  with  rawhide  sandals;  the 
soles  of  whose  feet  resemble  the  cuticle  on  the  foot  of 
the  camel.  On  the  mountains  and  in  the  valleys,  on 
the  coasts,  on  the  table-lands  and  on  the  slopes  they 
live  in  almost  native  and  aboriginal  style  and  method, 
except  that  Catholic  priests  have  somewhat  modified 
their  religious  habits,  have  substituted  idols  of  canvas, 
paint  and  wax  for  those  originally  of  stone  and  clay, 
though  in  morals  they  have  deteriorated. 

The  food  of  the  millions  is  corn,  beans  and  pepper, 
the  same  substantially  as  was  the  subsistence  of  the 
natives  when  conquered  by  Cortez  in  1521,  and  had 
been  for  an  indefinite  period.  The  corn  is  first  boiled, 
then  hulled  and  afterwards  mashed  with  a  stone  rubber 
upon  a  flat  stone  until  of  the  consistence  of  dough,  when 
it  is  patted  between   the  hands  down  to  a  thin  cake, 


24  -1  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

baked  upon  a  hot  stone  or  sheet  iron,  and  comes  off  a 
"tortilla."  The  beans  and  pepper  are  stewed  together 
in  an  earthen  or  iron  vessel  and  to  this  is  added,  if 
fortune  has  favored,  a  modicum  of  meat. 

When  the  cooking  is  completed  all  the  family  squat 
down  upon  the  ground  around  the  pot  containing  the 
stew,  and  making  a  spoon  of  the  tortilla,  they  each  at 
will,  dip  out  and  eat,  spoon  and  all.  Of  table  cutlery 
they  are  entirely  destitute;  dishes  are  unknown,  table- 
cloth and  napkins  are  minus,  and  having  eaten  their 
spoons  no  dishes  remain  to  be  washed.  A  jar  of  water 
or  pulque  and  a  gourd  supply  drink  and  cup. 

Approach  a  country  house — it  is  of  adobe  and 
stands  without  shade,  fence  or  grass  plot.  The  dogs 
and  dust  annoy  you  on  the  outside  while  the  dust  and 
leas  render  your  stay  inside  anything  but  comfortable. 
The  floor  is  dirt.  There  are  no  beds,  tables  or  chairs. 
The  people  sleep  upon  mats  spread  upon  the  ground. 
The  bedding  consists  of  the  blanket  or  rebosa  of  the  men 
and  tlie  same  with  a  quilt  for  the  women  and  children. 
On  the  coasts  and  low  lands  the  houses  are  of  palm  leaf 
or  other  vegetable  growth,  constructed  around  a  frame 
work  of  poles,  and  often  look  like  straw  or  fodder 
stacks.  Houses  rarely  have  chimneys.  In  the  city 
never. 

Of  books,  papers  and  libraries,  they  are  almost 
entirely  destitute.  A  picture  of  the  virgin  of  Guadalupe 
or  of  some  Saint  or  Scripture  scene,  possibly  adorns  the 
walls  with  a  half -christian,  half-heathen  shrine  of  some 
kind  at  which  to  worship.  Their  education  consists  in 
the  ability  to  say  some  prayers  in  Latin  and  make  re- 
sponses by  rote,  and  to  cross  themselves  and  takeoff 
their  hats  upon  meeting  consecrated  persons  or  passing 


FROM  COR7EZ  70  DIAZ.  243 

consecrated  places.  Millions  are  thus  circumstanced 
and  pass  along  generation  after  generation. 

In  cities  and  among  the  better  educated  and 
wealthy  citizens  in  the  country  may  be  found  better 
food,  furniture  and  accommodations,  graduated  up  to 
the  most  luxurious  style  of  living,  in  the  best  of  fur- 
nished abodes.  In  the  City  of  Mexico  upon  the  pasco 
can  be  seen  turnouts  of  the  finest  coaches  with  pure- 
blood  Andalusiau  horses  and  liveried  servants,  equal  in 
style  to  European  cities. 

The  houses  of  the  wealthy  and  the  better  classes 
are  built  with  a  court  or  "patio"  within,  which  is 
square  and  of  sufficient  size  to  contain  a  fountain  with 
trees,  shrubs,  vines  and  flowers.  The  horses  and  car- 
riages are  kept  in  the  lower  story,  while  the  rooms 
above  are  the  family  apartments.  Often  a  highly  walled 
lot  of  ground  is  attached  which  is  filled  with  trees  and 
fountains,  and  thus  in  that  hot  country  becomes  a  per- 
fect paradise.  Such  enclosures  are  seldom  absent  from 
church  property  and  residences  of  the  clergy.. 

The  inside  of  the  house  is  the  home,  the  outside 
the  castle.  The  windows  are  barred  and  closely  guarded 
from  intrusion  by  shutters.  Rarely  is  glass  found  in 
the  windows.  As  evening  approaches  members  of  the 
family  open  a  part  or  all  of  the  shutters  and  enjoy  the 
air  and  views  of  life  on  the  outside,  but  seclusion  and 
exclusion  is  the  rule.  In  the  city  the  houses  never  are 
supplied  with  chimneys;  in  the  country  rarely  are  they 
to  be  found.  Cooking  is  done  and  occasional  heat 
secured  by  the  use  of  charcoal  and  braziers. 

The  one  entrance  is  a  large  double  door  through 
which  carriages  can  pass.-  These  doors  are  thick  and 
strong  and  in  the  older  houses  are  made  to  shut  against 


244  H1S1  OR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS. 

an  outside  stone  barrier  at  the  bottom  which  effectually 
guards  the  entrance  from  unwelcome  guests.  This  was 
required  in  revolutionary  times,  for  the  rabble  as  well 
as  the  soldiery  sought  spoils  from  any  and  all  who  had 
goods  of  value.  A  small  door  is  usually  made  within 
the  main  one,  through  which  persons  can  pass. 

By  law  all  ingress  or  egress  to  and  from  houses  on 
streets  in  towns  and  cities  must  be  by  the  one  door  on 
the  street.  Thus  no  one  can  retreat  by  the  back  way, 
and  there  are  no  alleys.  At  each  intersection  of  streets 
a  policeman  stands  day  and  night,  and  thus  the  coming 
and  going  of  all  is  under  the  surveillance  of  the  officers 
of  the  government 

Lands  are  not  surveyed  and  platted  as  in  the 
United  States.  When  land  is  disposed  of  by  the  gov- 
ernment, it  is  only  in  large  quantities,  and  then  it  is 
described  and  defined  by  monuments,  metes  and  bounds. 
At  this  time  the  government,  to  avoid  speculators,  sells 
only  to  those  who  give  assurance  of  actual  improvement 
by  persons  or  colonies. 

The  Indian  title  is  never  extinguished  or  recognized, 
the  theory  of  the  conquerors  remains  in  force,  and  that 
was  that  the  Indian  had  no  rights  which  a  Catholic 
conqueror  was  bound  to  respect.  This  has  entailed 
within  the  native  an  odium  towards  the  white  man  as 
vivid  and  intense  as  in  the  first  days  of  the  conquest 
and  spoliation.      But  he  is  powerless. 

Colonists  are  left  to  make  terms  with  those  who 
live  upon  lands  which  were  the  homes  of  their  ances- 
tors. Many  on  attempt  have  found  this  a  difficult 
matter.  The  native  is  not  anxious  for  employment  at 
manual  labor  upon  his  tropical  homestead,  where  pro- 
fuse and  lavish  nature  has  furnished  him  a  simple  fare 


FROM  CORTEZ  10  DIAZ.  245 

without  great  effort  on  his  part.  He  lives  much  in  the 
open  air,  dresses  simply,  where  he  dresses  at  all,  eats 
what  he  can  get,  has  little  use  for  money,  knows  noth- 
ing about  accumulating  wealth  and  has  no  sympathy 
with  progress  or  enterprise,  and  therefore  nothing  to 
stimulate  him  to  laborious  action.  Nor  is  he  willing 
that  others  should  intrude  upon  his  old  home  and 
haunts,  and  he  finds  many  methods  to  thwart  civiliza- 
tion, cultivation  and  modernism. 

When  the  stranger  immigrant  wishes  to  secure 
improved  lands  or  small  tracts  there  is  great  difficulty 
in  finding  any  who  will  dispose  of  their  ancestral  entail- 
ment; immigrants  find  little  encouragement  and  soon 
ascertain  that  their  room  is  preferred  to  their  company. 

Lauds  are  not  taxed,  so  large  holdings  are  attended 
with  no  expense,  except  as  to  that  part  which  is  worked. 
When  an  heir  succeeds  to  an  estate,  he  makes  careful 
estimate  as  to  the  amount  of  money  he  will  need  to  live 
at  the  place  and  in  the  style  which  suits  his  fancy,  and 
then  he  works  his  lands  for  that  sum  only.  He  will 
entail  the  estate  intact  as  he  received  it,  and  thus 
generations  "have,  hold  and  keep,"  for  they  rarely 
ever  sell. 

Taxes  are  levied  largely  upon  incomes,  business 
and  enterprise.  The  keeper  of  a  modest  restaurant  in 
the  city,  who  paid  his  landlord  $35  per  month,  was 
taxed  upon  his  business  $20  per  month  for  the  benefit 
of  the  government  and  $1.25  per  year  011  occupation, 
while  in  addition  he  would  pay  an  annual  tax  upon  the 
gross  amount  of  business  done. 

The  tax  on  coffee  buyers  is  $600  per  annum  for 
each  place  of  purchase  and  a  like  amount  for  each  travel- 
ing agent  or  purchaser.     Coffee  sacks  are  6  cents  each 


246  HIS  'WRY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

on  importing  the  sacks  and  5  cents  each  when  exported 
full  of  coffee.  The  export  tax  on  coffee  is  $1  per  100 
pounds.  A  stamp  tax  which  reaches  all  business  docu- 
ments, advertisements  and  posters  produces  a  large 
revenue. 

It  is  the  current  remark  of  foreigners  doing  business 
111  Mexico,  that  the  government  officials  lie  awake  of 
nights  studying  up  old  laws  and  planning  new  ones 
whereby  successful  business  enterprise  may  be  more 
heavily  taxed;  and  it  is  a  constant  struggle  on  the  part 
of  the  enterprising  capitalist  who  has  invested  in  the 
country  to  avoid  substantial  confiscation. 


Of  the  Americans  who  located  in  or  made  ventures 
of  a  business  nature  in  Mexico  up  to  a  recent  date,  the 
natives  had  no  very  good  opinion,  and  summed  up  their 
estimate-  as  follows:  "Frontiersmen,  mean,  vulgar  and 
indecent,  fugitives,  vagabonds,  refugees  from  justice, 
gamblers  by  profession,  speculators  in  mines,  peddlers, 
charlatans  and  adventurers,  politicians  who  have  been 
rolling  around  until  they  have  reached  Mexico;  workers 
on  railroads  who  have  been  discharged,  and  lawyers 
and  doctors  without  clients,  constituting  the  worst 
element  of  strangers  who  exist  in  the  country;  of  bad 
form,  without  conscience  or  morality,  who  discard  as 
ridiculous  the  idea  of  tolerating  any  principle  of  justice, 
interfering  with  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  setting  by  this 
action  the  worst  possible  example  and  creating  the  worst 

ible  opinion  against  the  probity  and  good  inten- 
tions of  the  Americans.  Living  the  lives  of  idlers  in 
hotels  and    saloons,  talking  in  a  loud   voice  and  in  a 

tful  manner  about  'revolution,  invasion  and  mani- 


FROM  C0R7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  247 

fest    destiny.'       Chewing    tobacco,    drinking     liquor 
blaspheming,  playing    billiards  and  conducting  them- 
selves   in    such  a   manner  as  to  cause    disgust    among 
respectable  Americans  as  well  as  Mexicans." 

"One  of  the  first  signs  in  populations  of  recent 
formation  along  side  of  the  railroads,  showing  the 
superior  culture  of  the  north,  consists  in  large  letters, 
announcing  the  sale  of  'Whisky  Punch,'  'Brandy 
Smash,'  'Champagne '  Cocktails,'  'American  Mixed 
Drinks,'  and  other  things  of  that  style.  It  is  rarely  the 
case  that  one  hears  the  American  speak  his  language  in 
the  country  without  the  use  of  boast  and  blasphemy."* 

Of  Europeans  was  written:  "The  Europeans  in 
Mexico  take  little  interest  in  the  progress  of  the  country, 
having  neither  sympathy  with  Mexicans  nor  their  in- 
stitutions, and  on  the  contrary  giving  offensive  ex- 
pression to  their  superiority.  They  maintain  their  own 
social  life,  attend  their  own  schools,  clubs  and  places  of 
amusement  and  mix  very  little  with  the  natives." 

"The  Mexicans  receive  business  advances  from  the 
people  of  the  United  States  with  the  same  warmth  and 
ardor  that  they  do  those  of  the  French. 

"But  the  Spaniard  is  the  most  odious  of  all  nationali- 
ties. Under  the  policy  of  exclusion  which  prevailed  for 
three  centuries,  all  strangers  were  kept  out  of  Mexico; 
so  when  the  era  of  independence  dawned  there  were 
only  Spaniards,  Mexicans,  and  a  mixed  class  composed 
of  the  union  of  the  blood  of  those  two  peoples.  The 
Spaniards  were  educated  and  used  to  political  power, 
and  they  regarded  all  Creoles  and  mixed  people  and  na- 
tives with  contempt. 

"The   French   commenced   to  come  to  the  countrv 


*Biografia  de  Diaz. 


248  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

soon  after  the  establishment  of  independence,  and  en- 
gaged in  the  hotel  and  restaurant  business;  and  their 
efforts  resulted  in  offering  to  the  people  a  better  sendee 
than  had  the  Spanish.  The  Germans  came  at  the  same 
time,  and  became  the  best  merchants  of  the  period."* 

At  this  time  the  French  and  the  Germans  do  the 
most  of  the  dry  goods  trade.  The  Spanish-speaking 
people  have  the  grocery  and  produce,  and  the  English 
have  the  hardware  and  machinery,  and  still  hold  the 
railroads  to  the  port  of  Vera  Cruz,  of  which  they  were 
the  original  projectors.  Americans  share  with  the  Eng- 
lish in  railroads  from  the  United  States,  while  the  Mexi- 
can government  owns  the  Tehuantepec  line  from  the 
Gulf  to  the  Pacific.  The  English  are  mainly  the  bank- 
ers and  brokers,  but  Americans  are  beginning  to  share 
the  business.  Ocean  commerce  is  in  the  hands  of  for- 
eigners, but  the  coasting  trade  is  done  by  Mexicans. 


Of  the  state  of  public  and  private  morals  in  Mexico 
little  need  be  said  to  give  emphasis  to  the  well  known 
fact,  that  in  no  strictly  Roman  Catholic  country  has  a 
high  moral  standard  ever  been  urged  or  attained;  and  a 
few  facts  will  show  that  Mexico  is  no  exception  to  the 
rule. 

Speaking  of  the  ancient  artificial  pyramid  at  Cho- 
ltlla  the  Mexican  historian  truthfully  says,  that  the 
is  now  occupied  with  a  Church  with  two  towers 
and  a  large  lull  in  each,  that  it  is  mouldy  and  time- 
stained  without,  but  adorned  with  paint  and  gold  and 
artistic  displays,  with  portraits  and  statuary  within;  and 
that  in  the  city  adjoining  are  many  grand  churches  with 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  249 

the  Plaza  de  Torros,  or  bull  ring,  in  the  midst,  where 
the  clerks  and  the  faithful  of  the  Church  reunite  to  see 
the  bloody  sport  of  the  bull-fight  after  they  have  assisted 
in  their  divine  offices  in  public  service  or  mass  in  their 
respective  places  of  worship  in  the  morning.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  bull-fights  take  place  on  Sundays 
and  feast  days  only;  like  Sunday  schools  of  Protestant- 
ism. 

In  the  City  of  Mexico  the  "soiled  doves"  rise  from 
their  couches  in  licensed  houses  at  6  o'clock  in  the 
morning  of  Sundays,  attend  early  mass  for  the  quieting 
of  their  consciences  and  retaining  their  churchly  rela- 
tion, and  then  return  to  their  shamful  occupation, 
assured,  under  the  system  of  appeasing  God  and  secur- 
ing coudoument  for  past  and  contemplated  crime  for  a 
money  consideration,  taught  them  by  their  priests,  that' 
they  stand  justified  by  cash  while  others  depend  upon 
faith  to  secure  that  saved  condition. 

Many  a  bright  youth  in  the  city  is  pointed  out  as 
the  progeny  of  a  priest;  and  it  is  said  that  if  all  the 
clergy  were  to  strictly  observe  their  vows  of  celibacy  a 
certain  class  of  specialists  would  have  less  practice  and 
reduced  incomes. 

One  of  the  hindrances  to  securing  converts  to  Pro- 
testantism from  the  mestizos  and  natives  is  the  new  and 
rigid  system  of  morals  and  spiritual  purity  taught  and 
urged  as  inseperable  from  Christian  living  within  the 
pale  of  Protestant  churches. 

On  Sundays  lottery  tickets  are  sold  on  the  streets, 
and  at  Church  doors,  drinking  places  are  open  in  all 
parts  of  city  and  country,  gambling,  cock  and  bull 
fights  are  tolerated  and  licensed;  fairs,  markets,  hawk- 
ing and  peddling  compete  with  open  stores;  mechanics 


25o  HIST  OR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

and  toilers  follow  their  regular  occupations;  fandangos 
and  balls  are  openly  maintained  and  patronized,  and  all, 
all,  all,  proprietors  and  patrons  are  in  good  standing  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  church  if  they  have  duly  patronized 
the  priest  and  paid  his  fees. 

By  reason  of  the  excessive  charges  made  by  priests 
for  performing  the  marriage  ceremony  many  thousands 
of  impecunious  loving  couples  in  Mexico  take  iip  with 
each  other  annually,  and  then  from  time  to  time  pay 
money  into  the  hands  of  the  priest,  which  finally 
amounting  to  the  $10  or  $15  required,  the  pair  are  duly 
married,  and  their  children  baptized  at  one  and  the 
same  time  and  occasion.  This  lamentable  state  of  public 
morals  caused  the  transferring  of  the  marriage  rite  from 
the  religious  to  the  civil  order  on  the  part  of  the  reform- 
ers; but  the  clerical  anathema  still  sways  the  public 
mind,  for  there,  as  in  the  United  States,  the  Church 
proclaims  that  marriage  by  a  magistrate  or  Protestant, 
and  not  by  a  Roman  Catholic  priest  is  void,  and  the  off- 
spring thereof  are  bastards.  "She  (the  Church)  has 
the  right  of  treating  all  marriages  which  are  notsolemn- 
Lzed  according  to  the  form  of  the  Council  of  Trent  as  in- 
valid, even  those  solemnized  according  to  a  form  pre- 
scribed by  the  civil  law." — Canon  laws,  of  Pius  IX., 
Under  this  teaching  the  people  adopt  and  the 
priests  lorce  the  concubinage  as  stated,  the  rule  being, 
"no  money  no  marriage  ceremony." 

Just  after  the  traveler  on  the  "  National"  has  crossed 

Hit:    [0,000    feet    of    mountain    ridge    that    bounds    the 

"Valley,"  and  has  the  City  of  Mexico  nearly  in  view, 

iff  to  the  right  a  magnificent   Church — the 

"Church  of  the  Thieves."    Why  so  called?  Well,  in  the 

when  bandits  made  profitable  forays  upon  silver 


FROM  COR7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  251 

trains  en  route  to  the  city,  many  pious  thieves  perform- 
ing their  devotions  in  chapel  of  humble  proportions,  ere 
they  went  out  to  business,  vowed  a  good  bestowment 
upon  the  Church  if  successful.  Being  greatly  prospered 
by  a  raid  soon  after,  and  attributing  it  to  their  prayers 
and  vows,  and  being  moved  by  the  maxim,  "honor 
among,"  etc. ,  they  testified  their  piety  and  loyalty  by 
furnishing  funds  from  their  robberies,  whereby  was 
built  a  grand  Church;  hence  the  name. 

In  1826  in  a  conversation  with  the  British  minister 
and  lamenting  the  debased  state  of  the  Mexican  people, 
a  distinguished  member  of  a  cathedral  chapter  used  this 
remarkable  and  truthful  phrase,  "Son  muybuenosCato- 
licos,  pero  muy  malos  Christianos,"  They  are  very  good 
Catholics,  but  very  bad  Christians,  and  that  it  had  been 
too  much  the  interest  of  the  lower  orders  of  the  clergy 
to  direct  the  attention  of  their  flocks,  rather  to  a  scrupu- 
lous observance  of  the  forms  of  the  Catholic  church, 
than  to  its  moral  and  spirit,  from  which  their  revenues 
derived  little  advantage. 

To  commit  theft  is  such  a  habit  with  many  of  the 
population  that  all  who  have  valuables  secure  them  by 
the  most  careful  exercise  of  precautions,  such  as  high 
walls,  strong  doors,  huge  bolts  and  locks,  closely  barred 
and  shuttered  windows,  and  the  possession  of  fire  arms 
ready  for  use. 

But  should  a  thief  secure  personal  property  and  dis- 
pose of  it  to  a  "fence"  or  otherwise,  it  would  be  of  no 
avail  for  the  despoiled  owner  to  find,  identify  and  claim 
it;  for,  under  the  usages  of  the  country,  the  possession 
of  personal  property,  coming  through  the  channel  of 
purchase,    carries   title.     The   claimant    would    be    in- 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

structed  to  catch  and  punish  the  thief  as  his  only  re- 
dress. 

Should  a  citizen  resist  an  attempt  at  assault  or  theft 
he,  as  well  as  the  offender,  would  be  arrested  and  held 
for  trial. 

Railroad  companies  have  often  lost  valuable  prop- 
erty by  theft,  and  on  finding  it  in  the  hands  of  a  pur- 
chaser have  failed  to  recover  it,  on  the  above  named 
usage.  So,  having  obtained  wisdom  by  experience,  it 
is  now  a  rule  with  all  officers  and  employees  of  such 
companies  to  remove  carefully  all  links,  pins,  and  other 
valuable  parts  of  cars  and  trains,  and  to  lock  them  in 
secure  places,  otherwise  they  would  be  irrecoverably  lost 
by  theft. 

But  justice  is  prompt  and  inexorable  in  many  cases. 
Under  the  administration  of  justice  by  the  processes 
adopted  by  the  rural  guards,  when  any  thief,  or  other 
criminal,  especially  a  noted  one,  is  captured  he  is  rarely 
brought  to  trial,  but  is  dispatched  en  route  and  the  re- 
port is  made  that  he  attempted  to  escape,  and  that  his 
death  was  necessary.  By  this  means  justice  has  her 
ilues,  and  the  government  avoids  excessive  criminal 
costs. 

Iii  February,  1S94,  when  the  writer  was  in  Mexico, 
the  usual  Sunday  night  fandango  was  being  enjoyed  at 
the  mining  city  of  Pachuca.  An  incensed  Mexican  shot 
and  killed  a  woman  for  real  or  fancied  offense.  Im- 
mediately the  doors  were  locked,  and  all  persons  placed 
under  arrest.  The  proper  civil  officers  were  called,  a 
trial  had  with  all  witnesses  required  to  prove  the  crime; 
sentence  was  passed,  the  offender  turned  over  to  the 
proper  officer,  who  kept  him  in  custody,  the  priest 
called,  who  by  Roman  Catholic  processes  prepared  the 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  253 

culprit  to  join  the  society  of  the  blessed  in  the  hereafter; 
and  on  Tuesday  morning  at  sunrise  the  convict  was 
executed  by  the  discharge  of  the  unerring  volley  from 
fire  arms. 


Although  Yucatan  is  a  state  of  Mexico  it  is  not 
entirely  subject  to  the  national  dominion.  It  is  practi- 
cally a  peninsula,  and  divides  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
from  the  Caribean  sea.  Its  length  is  260  miles  north 
and  south,  and  180  miles  wide.  It  is  but  little  elevated 
above  sea  level,  and  is  peculiarly  fiat.  The  basic  forma- 
tion is  fossiliferous  limestone.  The  soil  is  loam  of  ex- 
traordinary richness,  which  is  covered  with  dense  forests 
of  rare  and  valuable  timber.  Scattered  throughout 
these  forests  are  the  ruins  and  remains  of  large  cities, 
and  of  magnificent  and  stupendous  edifices  which,  doubt- 
less, once  were  temples  for  gods  and  palaces  of  monarchs. 
The  outward  and  inward  walls  of  these  structures  are 
covered  with  sculpture,  bas-reliefs  and  inscriptions 
which,  by  alphabetical  and  hieroglyphic  writings,  pre- 
sent volumes  of  history. 

The  perfection  of  form,  the  harmony  of  design  and 
the  excellence  of  execution,  surpassing  the  art  exhibited 
in  Old  World  ruins,  testify  to  the  high  degree  of  civili- 
zation attained  by  people  and  builders.  The  beauty  of 
the  decorations  and  the  exquisite  proportions  of  these 
wonderful  structures  inspire  unspeakable  emotions  of 
amazement  and  admiration  within  all  who  are  permitted 
to  behold  them. 

Dr.  le  Plougeon,  a  noted  explorer  and  archeoligist, 
has  recently  secured  and  translated  some  of  the  few 
MSS  saved  from  destruction  at  the  hands  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Bishop  L,anda,  who  accompanied  the  Spanish 


254  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

invaders,  and  who,  with  characteristic  iconoclasm,  com- 
mitted to  the  flames  all  literature  and  works  of  civiliza- 
tion of  native  creation  which  he  could  secure.  These 
MSS  are  written  on  sheets  of  parchment,  prepared  from 
deer  skins,  in  the  colored  characters  of  an  alphabet 
formulated  in  a  pre-historic  period. 

The  northern  part  of  Yucatan  is  occupied  by  an  en- 
terprising and  thrifty  population,  who  have  constructed 
railroads  from  their  principal  cities  to  their  seaports  with- 
out aid  from  outside  capital,  and  whose' productions  and 
commerce  have  made  them  independent.  That  part 
alone  holds  official  relations  with  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment. 

The  southern  part  is  occupied  by  a  remnant  of  the 
Mayan  nation,  whose  idioms  are  almost  identical  with 
the  incriptions  upon  the  ruins  of  the  country.  The 
shameful  cruelties  inflicted  upon  them  by  the  Spaniards 
has  entailed  hatred  and  hostility,  which  has  been  mani- 
fested in  their  many  efforts  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of 
Spain  and  of  Mexico  whenever  opportunity  has  offered 
itself. 

During  the  war  with  the  United  States  the  natives 
took  advantage  thereof  and  succeeded,  after  a  long  and 
sanguinary  struggle,  in  freeing  the  southern  part  from 
the  white  man's  control.  In  their  strongholds,  in  the 
south  west  part,  they  remain  independent,  and  are  a 
terror  to  the  white  man  and  his  Indian  allies.  Their 
war  cry  is  "death  to  the  white  monkeys."  Their  hos- 
tility and  prowess  foil )ids  tour,  research  and  travel 
through  that  part  of  Mexico. 


( >ne  of  the  most  notable  facts  in  Mexico  is  the  con- 
trol which  the  state  exercises  over  the  Church  and  the 


FROM  COR7EZ  TO  DIAZ.  255 

clergy.  All  Churches  are  under  the  supervision  of  the 
state,  which  limits  the  number  of  the  clergy  who  may 
be  tolerated  in  their  professional  capacity. 

This  is  reactionary,  as  in  the  days  before  the  reform 
many  more  of  the  sacerdotal  order  were  imposed  upon 
the  various  communities  than  were  needed,  as  in  Puebla, 
a  city  of  70,000  inhabitants,  where  for  each  thousand 
half-naked,  bare-footed  Indians,  there  was  a  costly 
Church  to  maintain,  and  an  aggregate  of  300  of  the  ec- 
clesiastics; and  in  like  manner,  if  not  in  proportional 
numbers,  the  clergy  were  distributed  throughout  the 
country. 

Processions  used  to  be  numerous,  and  Church 
parades  and  imposing  demonstrations  were  of  daily  oc- 
currence. Priests  wore  the  insignia  of  their  offices  in 
the  form  of  a  peculiar  hat  and  coat.  Now  no  processions 
are  allowed,  nor  are  the  clergy  permitted  to  dress  in  any 
manner  to  show  their  sacerdotal  character;  and  as  else- 
where stated,  there  are  ro  religious  orders  in  the 
country,  therefore  no  Sisters  of  Charity  are  to  be  seen. 
This  rigid  discrimination  is  also  of  a  reactionary  nature, 
inasmuch  as  insurrections  and  political  revolutions 
came  from  such  orders,  and  it  is  ungraciously  received 
by  the  subjects  of  the  discipline. 

While  it  is  manifestly  dictatorial  and  unrepublican 
for  the  state  authorities  to  limit  the  forming  of  distinct 
political  parties,  to  exercise  censorship  over  the  press, 
to  restrain  adverse  criticism  of  the  administration,  to 
forbid  religious  societies  and  to  restrain  forms  of  dress 
and  public  demonstrations,  the  peace  of  the  country 
practically  demands  it. 

With  millions  of  superstitious  Indians  susceptible 
of  being  led  to  revolution,  and  with  a  clergy   who  have 


256  HIS7  OR  V  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS 

too  often  shown  their  wish  and  will  to  dominate  the 
civil  government  by  church  revolt,  it  is  necessary  to 
forestall  action  by  such  methods. 

Ask  an  intelligent  Mexican  business  man  how  it 
was  possible  for  Juarez  and  his  associate  reformers  to ' 
dispossess  the  Church  of  property  and  power?  The  an- 
swer will  be,  "tl.j  priests  left  their  true  domain  of  re- 
ligion, became  politicians,  and  worked  against  the  ma- 
terial and  political  interests  of  the  country.  Having 
entered  politics  they  were  met  bv  a  stronger  party  which 
put  them  out  of  political  and  financial  place,  power  and 
possessions;  and  though  I  myself,  and  almost  all  other 
Mexican  citizens,  receive  the  communion  at  the  hands 
of  the  priests  as  loyal  Roman  Catholics,  we  yet  do  not 
want  the  priests  to  rule  the  state." 

Ask  an  ecclesiastic  the  same  questions,  and  why 
the  priests  and  their  religious  clientage  submit  to  the 
decrees  and  results  of  the  reform,  and  he  will  answer, 
"the  Church  is  a  Church  of  peace  and  submits  to  wrong 
nil  that  principle." 

While  there  is  no  distinct  class  who  advocate  the 
annexation  of  Mexico  to  the  United  States,  yet  if 
broached  as  a  proposition  none  would  be  likely  to  advo- 
cate it  as  gladly  as  would  the  clergy,  who  would  thereby 
1m-  translated  from  the  exclusiveism  of  Catholic  Mexico 
to  the  exceedingly  broad  liberalism  of  the  Protestant 
United  States. 


FROM  CORTEZ   TO  DIAZ.  257 

Kings  of  thought  and  Heroes  of  action  took  part 
in  the  work  of  reform  in  Mexico. 

Unfained  statesmen  and  patriots  took  counsel, 
shaped  sentiment  and  devised  ways  and  means  without 
ostentation  or  publicity.  Upon  a  few  notable  characters 
fell  the  duty  of  taking  the  lead,  such  as  Juarez  whose 
crowning  eulogium  "He  disdained  to  compromise"  was 
a  summary  of  his  rigid  adherence  to  principle.  Lerdo, 
cabinet  officer  and  companion'of  Juarez,  distinguished 
in  the  law,  still  whose  ambition  and  subtilty  finally  led 
to  his  overthrow.  Ortega,  whose  brief,  brilliant  career 
of  success  in  the  command  of  troops  in  the  field,  and 
whose  defense  of  Puebla  gave  renown,  and  who  refused 
proffered  honors  a  the  hands  of  the  French  as  an  in- 
ducement to  his  betrayal  of  Juarez  and  the  constitution. 

Diaz  also,  whose  genius,  generalship  and  patriotism 
were  inherent  and  intuitive.  He  also  refused  the 
seductive  offer;  from  Bazaine  of  civil  place  which 
promised  almost  imperial  power,  as  Maximillian's  star 
was  being  eclipsed  and  Napoleon  III.  wished  to  sub- 
stitute a  Mexican  for  the  Austrian  0:1  the  throne. 
Nearly  as  stubborn  as  Juarez  and  quite  as  astute  and 
learned  in  the  law  as  Lerdo,  Diaz  with  his  patriotism 
and  skill  has  been  equal  to  every  phase  of  emergency 
in  the  evolution  of  true  republicanism  in  Mexico. 

The  ideal  "citizen  president,"  the  nearly  dicta- 
torial but  withal  paternal  controller  of  the  government 
and  the  people,  endearing  himself  to  all.  Possessed  ot 
personal  magnetism,  partly  intuitive,  but'  consisting 
largely  in  his  methods,  he  secures  the  teaity  oi  all  mth 
whom  he  has  official  relations. 

Wresting   power   from    L,erdo,   -ie,   by  meriting  it, 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

secured  alliances  with  Derdo's  best  friends  and  sup- 
porters, notably  Romero  Rubio,  a  distinguished  lawyer 
and  patriot,  who  entered  the  cabinet;  and  Escobedc , 
who  as  general,  commanded  L,erdo's  troops,  was  first 
captured  by  armed  men  and  then  by  the  kindness  of 
Diaz. 

But  the  most  marked  instance  of  Diaz's  peculiar 
style  is  seen  when  he  captured  Puebla  from  the  French. 
There,  among  the  hundreds  of  officers  captured,  and 
whose  fate  by  the  rules  of  that  war  was  death,  was  a 
French  officer  from  whom  Diaz  had  once  escaped,  for 
whose  recapture  $10,000  was  officially  offered,  to  which 
the  now  captive  had  then  added  $1  ,oco  from  his  private 
purse,  all  to  be  paid  for  the  capture  or  death  of  Diaz. 

The  prisoners  were  under  guard  in  a  church,  Diaz 
enters  and  finds  them,  like  true  Catholics  in  extremis, 
confessing  to  the  priests  and  making  disposition  oi  their 
earthly  effects;  all  overwhelmed  with  sorrow  and  many 
in  tears.  He  surveyed  the  scene,  called  attention,  ad- 
dressed  them  as  "friends"  and  assured  them  that  he 
would  without  consent  from  his  superiors,  take  the  re- 
sponsibility of  disposing  of  them  in  his  own  manner. 
He  told  then  that  though  they  had  made  a  mistake  in 
fighting  against  the  republic,  they  still  were  needed  as 
good  citizens  of  the  same,  and  adding  many  words  of 
kindness  and  patriotism,  assured  them  that  they  were 
free.  Needless  is  it  to  say  that  he  bound  them  to  him 
as  friends  with  hooks  of  steel.  The  Frenchman  could 
not  find  words  to  express  his  very  peculiar'  emotions, 
and  Diaz  only  escaped  a  rush  of  hand  shaking  and  the 
p  <  id i;ir  "Mexican  embrace"  of  hundreds  by  immediate 
and  precipitate  retreat. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


A  BULL  FIGHT. 

A  CALM  Sunday  morning  lias  dawned  upon  sun- 
bright,  flower-bedecked  Mexico.  Deep  toned 
bells  and  musical  chimes  from  many  cathedrals 
and  churches  have  called  to  early  mass,  and  thousands 
of  people  have  responded.  Throngs  have  assembled 
and  duly  celebrated  the  mass  and  punctilliously  fulfilled 
the  forms  and  duties  of  their  Christian  faith  for  the 
morning  hours. 

The  afternoon  comes  and  the  same  pious  people 
Jiroug  the  streets;  they  press  in  multitudes  to  a  com- 
mon center  which  is.  the  "Plaza  de  Torres"  or  bull  ring, 
where  without  violating  their  Roman  Catholic  con- 
sciences, they  give  themselves  up  to  the  pleasure  of  the 
sport  the  balance  of  the  day. 

The  history  of  bull  fighting  in  Mexico  is  but 
another  chapter  added  to  that  of  Spain,  simply  chang- 
ing the  names  of  the  stars  of  the  profession.  The 
people  of  Mexico  inherit  the  bloody  fascination  of  the 
sport,  and  what  has  been  written  of  the  exciting 
funcions  in  the  Plaza  de  Torres  of  Spain  will  describe  as 
well  the  fights  in  the  arena  of  Puebla,  Toluca,  Tlalne- 
pantla,  the  City  of  Mexico  or  any  other  of  the  republic. 
It  is  very  much  like  baseball  in  America,  the  national 
place  of  excitement  and  amusement.  One  is  bloodless 
or  intended  to  be,  the  other  is  a  failure  without  the  ex- 
citement of  a  sanguinary  outflow. 


26o  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS 

But  it  does  not  follow  that  the  bull  fighter  is  a 
"tough."  Iu  the  profession  are  college  graduates  who 
have  held  with  credit  the  degree  of  A.  M. ;  and  Pouciano 
Diaz,  the  star  of  Mexico,  recently  reported  killed  by  a 
bull,  was  a  modest,  well-appearing  man  of  intelligence 
and  good  breeding,  brave  but  not  a  bully,  correct  but 
not  foppish,  and  altogether  not  spoiled  by  his  profes- 
sional success;  he  was  a  semi-god  to  the  masses,  and 
the  impersonation  of  all  that  was  great  to  the  people. 
This  had  been  demonstrated  in  a  positive  manner  from 
time  to  time,  when  they  unhitched  the  mules  from  his 
carriage,  and  with  shouts  hundreds  of  them  hauled  him 
through  the  streets  in  triumph  to  his  hotel. 

The  Plaza  de  Torres  is  in  shape  very  like  the  cyclo- 
rama  buildings  in  America,  only  much  larger;  inside  is 
a  monster  amphi-theater  seating  thousands  of  people, 
encircling  the  arena  is  a  high  fence  or  barrier  with  a 
foot  rail  about  eighteen  inches  from  the  ground  on  the 
inside  on  which  the  performers  step  and  leap  over  the 
fence  when  too  closely  pursued  by  the  bull,  landing  in 
an  open  space  between  the  audience  and  the  ring. 

The  opening  of  the  performance  is  brilliant  and 
exciting,  the  audiences  are  nearly  always  large,  some- 
times numbering  15,000 to  20,000,  all  eager  for  the  fray; 
olors  are  everywhere,  bauds  are  playing  the  live- 
liest airs  and  all  is  excitement. 

Tin- feeling  of  the  novice  under  the  circumstances 
is  one  of  amazement  and  anxious  expectation;  there  is 
a  grand  flourish  of  trumpets,  a  gaily  caparisoned  horse- 
man dashes  in,  gallops  to  the  president's  box.  A  key 
is  thrown  to  him — the  key  of  the  door  leading  to  the 

•  where  the  animals  are  kept.  The  horseman 
<  ati  hes  Hi-  key  (or  fails  at  his  peril),  and  gallops  back 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  261 

to  the  entrance  and  disappears.  If  the  key  is  not 
caught  the  man  is  hissed  out  of  the  ring. 

Another  flourish  of  trumpets  and  loud  huzzas  from 
20,000  of  throats  announce  the  coming  of  the  company. 
It  is  indeed  a  brilliant  spectacle.  The  matadores  and 
banderilleros  011  foot  and  the picadores  on  horseback,  all 
clad  in  the  gayest,  grandest  costumes,  and  in  all  colors 
and  gold  embroideries,  march  to  the  president's  box. 

The  president  is  a  municipal  or  state  officer  and  has 
full  direction  of  the  performance.  He  is  saluted  by  the 
company,  the  superfluous  performers  retire,  and  all  is 
ready  for  the  fight.  Now  the  wildest  excitement  pre- 
vails and  the  scene  is  the  picture  of  pandemonium.  All 
eyes  are  turned  toward  the  low  strong  doors  under  the 
band  stand;  they  are  thrown  open  and  from  a  darkened 
pen  the  bull  bounds  into  the  ring.  As  he  passes  under 
the  rail  a  steel  barb  with  ribbons  attached,  showing  the 
breeder's  colors,  is  fastened  in  his  shoulder.  He  gallops 
to  the  middle  of  the  ring,  stops  and  looks  around  with 
fear  and  astonishment.  He  looks  grand.  Surprise  and 
fear  give  way  to  rage.  He  paws  the  earth  and  snorts 
in  his  frenzy,  and  discovering  the  red  cloth  of  the 
espada,  starts  toward  him  on  the  run.  The  man  goes 
over  the  fence,  but  not  too  cpuickly,  for  he  has  hardly 
disappeared  before  the  bull's  horns  are  thrust  through 
the  boards.  The  animal  turns  and  spies  a  horse,  and 
woe  be  unto  the  horse  for  his  time  has  come.  The 
picador  with  his  lance  is  totally  unable  to  keep  the  bull 
from  goring  the  horse  and  it  is  killed. 

The  horses  are  not  valuable  ones,  being  old  and 
retired,  but  gotten  up  for  this  occasion  are  blindfolded 
and  ridden  in  to  a  certain  fate.  Another  man  is  chased 
out  oTthe  ring  and  another  horse  wounded.     A  signal 


262  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  MEXICA  N  POL  I T/CS, 

from  the  president  and  a  bugle  call  directs  the  horses 
to  be  removed.  Now  comes  the  most  interesting  part 
of  the  performance,  the  thrusting  of  the  banderillas. 
The  bull  is  surrounded  by  his  tormentors.  It  is  a  con- 
test between  skill  and  brute  force. 

A  banderilla  is  a  wire  about  two  and  a  half  feet 
long.  On  the  end  is  a  sharp  barbed  point  and  the  wire 
is  covered  its  entire  length  with  colored  paper  ribbons. 
The  banderillo  is  the  man  who  places  them  into  the 
bull's  shoulders;  he  must  stand  in  front  of  the  animal 
and  wait  the  attack.  The  bull,  maddened  at  his 
audacity,  starts  at  him  at  full  speed;  the  man  steps  out 
of  his  way  gracefully,  and  skilfully  thrusts  the  bander- 
illas in  the  bull's  shoulders  as  he  passes  by.  As  soon 
as  the  animal  can  check  his  headlong  speed,  he  turns 
only  to  find  another  banderillo  with  two  more  bander- 
illas. These  and  two  more  are  thrust  into  his  shoulders, 
all  hanging  there.     Bellowing  now,  he  is  wild. 

Another  signal  from  the  president  instructs  that 
the  bull  has  had  enough  and  must  be  killed.  This  is 
where  the  matador,  the  primer-espada,  distinguishes 
himself.  His  skilful  killing  of  the  bull  by  a  single 
thrust  of  the  sword  is  what  determines  the  brilliancy  of 
the  star.  The  matador  must  face  the  bull,  sword  in 
hand,  and  await  the  attack.  It  is  assassination  to  strike 
while  he  is  at  rest,  and  calls  for  hisses  and  missiles 
from  the  audience.  The  blood-red  cloth  or  mulct  a  is 
flaunted  in  front  of  the  bull.  The  maddened  animal 
his  eyes  and  makes  one  more  dash  for  victory  or 
ind  falls  in  death,  the  sword  of  the  matador  is 
thrust  between  the  shoulders  to  the  hilt  and  has  pierced 
t  li<'  animal's  heart. 

Wild   bursts  of  applause   fill   the   air;  hats,  canes. 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  263 

cigars  by  the  bushel  are  thrown  into  the  ring  by  the 
delighted  spectators;  men  shout  and  sing,  ladies  wave 
their  handkerchiefs  and  mantillas;  the  matador  bows  his 
acknowledgments,  throws  the  hats  and  canes  back  to 
their  owners,  who  seem  grateful  that  he  should  honor 
them  thus. 

The  band  plays,  the  gates  are  opened,  three  gaudily 
decorated  mules  harnessed  abreast  are  driven  in,  a  rope 
is  thrown  over  the  dead  bull's  horns  and  he  is  dragged 
out.  The  wait  between  the  acts  is  not  more  than  a 
minute.  The  bugle  calls,  the  low  doors  open  and 
another  bull  gallops  in,  and  thus  on  till  six  are  killed 
at  one  performance.  But  should  the  advertised  number 
not  be  killed,  then  on  the  next  Sunday  the  number 
omitted  must  be  added  to  the  victims  for  that  time. 

The  skill  and  agility  of  the  performers  is  some- 
thing wonderful  and  consists,  in  part,  in  holding  the 
red  cloak  in  such  a  way  that  the  bull  rushes  for  the 
cloak  instead  of  him  who  holds  it.  The  bull  shuts  his 
eyes  and  does  not  see  the  man  as  he  quickly  steps  to 
one  side  and  escapes,  but  often  he  must  save  his  life  by 
flight  and  leap  over  the  barrier  around  the  ring. 

The  Plaza  de  7^rrc?.y  isthebull  ring,  and  the  fuucion 
is  the  performance.  The  best  seats  are  011  the  shady 
side,  those  in  the  sun  being  sold  at  cheap  prices.  Seats 
in  the  shade,  $2  to  $3;  boxes  from  $12  to  $20,  accord- 
ing to  the  company  playing.  The  star  fighter  is  a 
matador  or  espada,  and  he  it  is  who  finally  kills  the 
bull  with  his  sword.  The  bauderillo  is  the  man  who 
thrusts  the  banderillas  in  the  animal's  shoulders,  and 
the  banderilla  is  a  dart  with  a  barbed  point,  orna- 
mented with  colored  ribbons.  The  plait  of  hair  or 
queue,  worn  on  the  back  of  the  head  by  a  bull  fighter, 


264  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS 

indicates  that  he  has  passed  the  degree  of  banderillo. 
If  he  commits  any  offense  against  the  code  of  ethics,  or 
repeatedly  fails  in  the  act  of  placing  the  banderillas,his 
queue  is  cut  off  in  public  and  he  is  forever  disgraced. 
The  picadore  is  the  man  on  horseback,  bnt  he  doesn't 
stay  there  long  after  the  entrance  of  the  bull;  yet  while 
he  does,  he  goads  the  animal  with  a  pike  or  pole  with  a 
steel  point.  The  capeadores  are  the  men  who  handle 
the  capes  or  cloaks  which  are  flaunted  in  the  bull's  face 
to  worry  him.  The  muleta  is  the  red  cloth  used  by  the 
espada  at  the  killing,  and  the  cachetero  is  he  who  puts 
the  finishing  dagger  stroke  between  the  horns;  and 
when  he  has  done  so  six  times  (with  exceptions  as 
stated)  the  show  is  over. 

Responding  to  an  influence  of  moral  reform,  an 
effort  was  made  a  few  years  ago  to  legislate  against  bull 
fighting,  and  all  performances  were  interdicted  in  the 
federal  district.  Now  there  are  four  rings  within  the 
city  limits,  and  no  well  regulated  town  in  the  republic 
is  without  its  Plaza  de  Torres. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


ROME  UNDER  CATHODE,  OR  "X,"  RAYS. 

The  Aztec  was  entirely  unacquainted  with  the 
horse,  the  mule,  the  burro,  the  cow,  the  ox,  the  sheep, 
and  the  hen;  and  also  had  no  wheeled  vehicles,  nor  did 
he  know  of  iron  in  any  form.  His  implements  of  metal 
were  made  of  copper.  Superior  to  the  North  American 
Indian,  he  was  a  house  builder,  using  stone,  wood  and 
brick.  He  was  also  a  city  maker,  and  constructed 
aqueducts,  dikes  and  causeways,  to  make  city  life 
pleasant.  As  an  engineer  his  attainments  and  skill  were 
of  a  high  order. 

He  was  a  record  keeper,  and  preserved  his  civil, 
political  and  religious  laws,  histories  and  literature,  in 
a  style  peculiar  to  himself — by  pictorial  illustrations, 
being  words,  sentences  and  idioms,  in  pictures.  Doubt- 
less the  Aztec  records  and  histories  contained  data,  and 
possibly  positive  information  as  to  the  pre-historic  races 
who  constructed  the  pyramids  of  Mexico — larger  at  the 
base  than  those  of  Egypt — and  told  of  those  who  built 
the  monuments,  temples,  houses,  fortifications,  stairs, 
courts  and  paved  ways,  which  exist  as  ruins  all  over 
Southern  Mexico  and  Central  America. 

But  the  historian  who  looks  to  Mexico  to  solve 
problems  of  antiquity  is  confronted  with  voiceless  stone 
and  a  blank  page;  for  while  the  Aztecs  were  at  the  apex 
of  their  literature,  art  and  science,  the  Roman  Catholic 
made  his  appearance,  and  got  in  his  work.     Then  these 


266  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

iconoclasts — yes,  those  worse  than  image-breakers— 
those  art  and  science  crushers,  those  education  destroy- 
ers, gathered  together  all  of  the  records  of  the  Aztec 
nation,  their  histories,  their  laws,  their  decrees,  their 
religious  tenets,  their  astronomical  records  of  observa- 
tion, investigation  and  conclusion  (which  had  attained 
such  perfection  that  they  had  a  more  accurate  calendar 
than  had  the  astronomers  of  Europe)  in  short,  gathered 
together  all  the  literature  of  a  higly  civilized  people  into 
mountains  of  bound  volumes  and  manuscrips,  and  then 
burned  all  to  ashes — and  destroyed  a  great  civilization — 
in  the  name  of  Christ?     Their  kind  of  Christ! 

Would  not  Rome  do  so  again  not  only  in  Mexico 
but  in  the  United  States,  so  that  priestcraft  might  be  in 
the  ascendant?  Could  go  back  to  temporal  power, 
though  she  denounced  and  silenced  the  Galileo,  the 
Copernicus,  the  Luther,  of  to-day,  and  crushed  out  the 
American  public  school  system  as  pernicious  and  un- 
worthy of  Catholic  patronage?  Forget  not  this:  "Great 
are  the  rights  of  nations,  and  they  must  be  heeded;  but 
greater  and  more  sacred  are  the  rights  of  the  Church," 
as  said  Pius  IX. 

Pius  IX.  is  dead  and  gone  to  his  account.  But  Leo 
Xm.  lives  to  perpetuate  the  work  of  iconoclasm.  He 
also  is  on  record  as  to  Rome's  policies  and  politics.  In 
November,  1885,  he  issued  the  following: 

"We  exort  all  Catholics  to  take  an  active  part  in  all 
municipal  affairs  and  elections,  and  to  further  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Church  in  all  public  services,  meetings  and 
gatherings.  All  Catholics  must  make  themselves  felt  as 
active  elements  in  daily  political  life  in  the  countries  where 
live.  They  must  penetrate  wherever  possible  in 
the  administration  of  civil  affairs.    All  Catholics  should 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  267 

do  all  in  their  power  to  cause  the  constitutions  of  the 
states,  and  legislation,  to  be  modeled  in  the  principles 
of  the  true  Church." 

This  commits  Rome  to  the  work  of  overthrowing 
our  constitutions.  Catholics  are  strictly  "in  it. "  So  are 
Americans.  No  more  disguise.  Religion  is  religion, 
but  politics  is  politics.  A  microscope  must  possess  rare 
power  to  discover  any  line  separating  Rome's  religion 
from  politics.  The  corner  stone,  arch  and  keystone  of 
Rome  are  Peter,  Priest,  Politics. 

The  irrepressible  conflict  is  on,  and  this  country 
cannot  survive  half  Rome  and  half  American.  Let  all 
who  think  alike  prepare  to  act  together. 

The  secessionist  of  American  history  established, 
not  a  monarchy  or  a  hierachy,  but  a  republic.  The  Con- 
federacy was  to  run  parallel  with  the  federal  Union, 
each  with  a  bill  of  rights  locating  sovereignty  in  the 
people. 

Leo  XIII.  now  plots  a  revolution  to  subvert  the 
constitution  and  establish  a  hierarchy  with  soverignty 
vested  in  the  Vatican;  the  seat  of  empire  of  the  alleged 
"true  Church."  Leo  adopts  peculiar  and  characteristic 
methods  to  unify  his  forces  for  political  action.  To 
adults  he  applies  the  policy  of  segregation.  His  priests 
and  clergy  of  higher  order  are  forbidden  to  hold  any 
fraternal  conventions  with  other  Church  people.  His 
communicants  are  called  out  of  American  benevolent 
and  social  orders,  and  societies  under  pain  of  excom- 
munication, and  are  commended  to  membership  in  the 
"Clan  na  gael,"  the  Catholic  Knights,  the  Knights  of 
Father  Mathew,  the  Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians;  and 
of  that  ilk,  into  whose  portals  it  is  impossible  for  any  to 
enter  who  are  not  Roman  Catholics.     In  those  societies 


268  HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS 

oath  bound  obligations  to  Rome  and  her  policies  divide 
or  obliterate  loyalty  to  American  principles  and  consti- 
tutions. 

All  that  is  lacking  to  subvert  the  spirit  and  letter 
of  our  constitutions  is  enough  Roman  Catholic  voters — 
or  time  serving  political  demagogues — or  indifferent 
citizens  who  close  their  eyes  and  cry  peace,  peace;  who 
ignore  Rome's  secret  organizations  and  methods,  but  are 
painfully  afflicted  over  patriotic  efforts  of  Americans  to 
effect  counter  organization  with  the  sole  object  of  pre- 
serving religious  and  political  liberty. 

Had  Rome — of  such — a  majority,  the  world  would 
oon  realize  the  reign  of  the  Pittsburg  Bishop  O'Con- 
nor's declaration.  "Religious  liberty  is  merely  endured 
until  the  opposite  can  be  carried  into  effect  without 
peril  to  the  Catholic  Church."  And  "Protestantism  has 
not,  and  never  can  have,  any  rights  where  Catholicity 
has  triumphed;"  as  said  the  Catholic  Review,  June, 
1865. 

Lovers  of  liberty,  political,  religious  and  social, 
should  not  stand  on  the  defensive  alone,  but  should 
carry  the  war  into  the  camp  of  popular  educations  only 
enemy,  Rome,  religious  liberty's  only  enemy,  Rome, 
the  constitution's  only  enemy,  Rome,  by  the  most  per- 
sistent, aggressive  and  effective  methods,  and  by  indi- 
vidual and  organized  effort,  and  thus  meet  force  with 
force  in  their  chosen  field — the  secrecy  of  council,  plan 
and  united  action. 

T<>  maintain  the  orders  and  exortations  of  Rome  in 
America  her  subalterns  resort  to  insidious  methods. 
They  sustain  them  upon  no  publicly  proclaimed  plat- 
form, offer  no  argument,  appeal  to  no  intelligence,  nor 
ask  popular  verdict  upon   testimony,  argument  or  prin- 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  269 

ciple.  With  men  and  women  it  is  an  imperative  order; 
while  the  declaration  and  admission  made  by  Father 
Dalton,  that  children  to  remain  Catholics  must  have  a 
prepossessed,  prejudiced,  parochial  school  education 
points  out  the  course  adopted  with  children. 

They  therefore  commence  with  the  child,  and  ex- 
cluding—  or  perverting — instruction  in  philosophy, 
historic  truths,  political  and  moral  science,  natural 
rights  of  manhood,  religous  liberty,  civil  law  and  inde- 
pendent research,  they  inculcate  Church  dogmas,  fables 
of  the  supernatural,  legends  of  the  dead  past,  and  super- 
stitutions  of  the  present.  They  boldly  and  broadly  arro- 
gate the  bestowment,  by  God,  upon  Peter,  and  his  alleged 
poutificial  successors,  of  all  things  material  and  spiritual, 
carrying  with  the  gift  all  power  and  rights,  over  men  and 
over  governments,  civil,  political  and  social.  All  this  in 
extensive  and  continuous  detail  is  burned,  as  it  were,  into 
the  mind  and  the  conscience  of  the  pupil,  and  creates  a 
blind  faith  and  a  loyal  devotion  calculated  to  abide 
through  life. 

While  there  may  be  individual  Catholics  who 
would  not  favor  the  pope's  dictum  in  America  it  would 
yet  be  an  insult  to  intelligence,  to  assume  that  any  com- 
municant in  America  could  in  any  degree  influence  the 
decrees  and  policies  of  Rome. 

Thus  there  is  in  America  a  bigoted  class,  almost  as 
numerous  as  may  be  Rome's  communicants,  which  is 
the  army  of  the  propaganda  ever  ready  to  sustain 
Church  efforts  to  change  constitutions,  control  legisla- 
tion and  politics,  secure  official  positions  and  patronage, 
and  overthrow  the  public  school  system.  The  most 
skilful,  experienced  and  conscienceless  politician  in  the 
world,  the  Roman  pontiff  himself,  giving  orders,  point- 


27o  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS, 

ing  out  the  lines  of  action  and  fixing  the  objective 
point. 

Among  the  defending  and  counteracting  forces 
whereby  American  patriots  can  resist  Rome  is  the  sys- 
tem of  popular  education  in  the  common  school,  so 
fiercely  assaulted  by  pope,  archbishop,  bishop  and  priest, 
and  the  time  has  come  to  make  the  issue  and  to  demand 
and  insist  upon  legal  enactments,  whereby  attendance 
at  the  same  shall  be  made  compulsory  if  not  absolutely 
exclusive.  Every  American  child  should  have  an 
American  education  in  the  mutual  interest  of  the  child 
and  the  commonwealth. 

Rome  is  the  only  organization,  political,  civil  or  re- 
ligious,which,  in  its  organic  capacity,  denies  to  children 
the  right  of  public  popular  education — of  an  education 
untrammeled  by  ecclesiasticism.  In  this  is  Rome,  right 
or  wrong? 

The  parent  or  priest  who  would  lay  bare  the  infant- 
ile brain,  and  with  scalpel  eliminate  the  noble  self- 
asserting  liberty-inspiring  organs  by  anatomical  extir- 
pation, would  do  no  more  serious  injury  to  the  child  or 
the  commonwealth  than  is  being  done  by  priest  and 
parent  in  the  superstition-filling,  spirit-crushing,  big- 
otry-enthusing, and  unpatriotic  teaching  imparted  to 
pupils  in  Roman  Catholic  parochial  schools. 

American  liberty  does  not  assure  license  to  teach 
political  heresy,  or  error  in  the  interest,  or  at  the  insti- 
gation of  domestic  or  foreign  Churches,  be  they  Mormon 
or  Roman,  Methodist  or  Buddist,  Christian  or  Heathen. 

While  parochial  schools  continue  in  this  country 
their  text  books  and  system  of  teaching  should  be  sub- 
!'  ■  t   to   inspection,  correction,   revision  and  rejection, 


ROM  CORTEX  TO  DIAZ.  271 

and  tne  schools  brought  fully  under  the  control  of 
Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction. 

If  therein  is  taught  no  doctrines  dangerous  to  the 
state  such  inspection  and  revision  would  not  be  objec- 
tionable; but  if  for  any  reason  it  should  bear  so  hard 
upon  any  teacher  or  pupil,  be  he  citizen,  resident  or 
visiting  foreigner,  that  it  became  unendurable  it  would 
be  a  relief  to  know  that  the  right  and  privilege  of  eninii- 
gration  has  never  been  and  probably  never  will  be 
denied  to  such  a  sufferer  in  this  free  country.  Still  let 
him  avoid  Mexico  where,  though  the  people  are  Roman 
Catholics,  they  yet  have  excluded  priests  from  public 
politics,  and  from  any  control  of  the  public  schools  and 
where  attendance  at  the  same  is  compulsory.  Centuries 
of  priestly  dominion  and  exactions  taught  Mexican  states- 
men and  patriots  many  useful  political  truths.  Shall 
not  American  statesmen  and  patriots  share  in  that  in- 
struction? 

Our  constitutions  certainly  carry,  inherently,  the 
right  of  self-preservation.  A  glorious  sight  truly  to 
Americans  when  Leo  XIII.,  Satolli,  y  oiro  Dagos  re- 
model state  constitutions  and  shape  legislation.  Let 
Rome  beware  of  the  fate  of  Uzza,  who  laid  profane 
hands  upon  "Izrael's  sacred  Ark."  Should  Rome  model 
our  constitutions  Jefferson  would  fail  to  see  in  their 
letter  and  spirit  his  patriotic  work.  Franklin  would  see 
his  statesmanship  destroyed,  and  Washington  would 
think  his  generalship,  courage,  persistence  and  patriot 
ism,  had  all  been  in  vain. 

Another  grave  peril  to  America,  as  well  as  to  good 
government  everywhere,  is  the  absolution  and  indul- 
gence false  theology  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  is  the 
positive  enemy  of  the  state,  having  the  direct  tendency 


HISTORY  OF  MEXICAN  POLITICS 

to  corrupt  public  as  well  as  private  morals,  and 
should  be  crushed  out  by  law  as  were  the  corrupt  prac- 
tices of  the  mormons  of  Utah. 

Suppose  some  capitalized  Protestant  Church  Assur- 
ance Company  should  follow  the  spirit  of  the  recent  en- 
cyclical of  Pope  Leo  XIII.  to  the  English  people,  and 
advertise  that  for  a  consideration  they  would  assure 
complete  and  full  indulgence,  "once  a  month,"  in  sin 
and  crime,  the  specific  offence  being  subject  to  the  will 
and  wish  of  the  assured,  regardless  of  any  moral  or  civil 
tenet,  decree  or  statutory  enactment  to  the  contrary, 
and  thus  suspend,  annul  and  abrogate  God's  divine 
moral  law  as  well  as  the  statutes  of  the  state;  would  it  be 
tolerated  by  Church  or  state? 

All  should  be  treated  alike.  Rome  should  have  no 
special  license  to  dishonor  God,  encourage  crime,  cor- 
rupt public  morals,  and  humbug  guilty  dupes.  Let  the 
good  sense  and  the  high  moral  sentiments  of  the  un- 
romanized  American  conscience  be  chrystalized  into 
law  to  that  end,  adding  thereby  statutory  enactment,  to 
pure  religious  teaching  and  moral  suasion,  thus  defend- 
ing our  America  from  the  immoral  and  criminal  teach- 
ing of  Rome. 

There  are  ten  commandments,  recognized  as  from 
God  by  Hebrew  and  Christian,  by  Unitarian  and  Trini- 
tarian, by  Romist  and  Protestant.  A  man,  the  pope  of 
Rome,  says  any  one  or  all  of  these  commandments  may 
QOred,  violated,  broken,  without  consequent  guilt 
or  punishment  for  a  consideration  to  be  specified  by 
himself. 

A.n  indulgence,  a  plenary,  which,  is  full  and  com- 
plete,  indulgence  contemplates  a  violation  of  God's 
law,  else   no  indulgence  is  needed,  and  its   proffer  is 


FROM  CORTEZ  TO  DIAZ.  273 

illogical  and  absurd.  A  good  or  sinless  act  in  contem- 
plation requires  no  indulgence;  only  bad  or  sinful  acts 
arc  associate  with  indulgence,  therefore  its  proffer,  on 
the  part  of  the  first  party  the  pope,  premises  the  com- 
mission of  sin,  on  the  part  of  the  second  party  the  ac- 
ceptor of  the  conditions.  Thus  the  pope  assumes  to 
annul  God's  law  for  a  consideration.  Is  that  pure  and 
true  religious  teaching?  What  say  the  members  of  the 
Romish  Church?  What  says  Protestantism?  What  say 
Americans? 

Take  a  case.  An  English  husband  lusts  after  a 
maid.  Every  divine,  moral  and  civil  law  says  that  the 
gratification  of  his  passion  would  be  criminal.  While 
deliberating  in  fear  of  law,  and  held  in  check  by  con- 
science, the  husband  hears  the  Pope's  offer,  to-wit. :  Say 
certain  prayers  for  the  unity  of  the  English  with  the 
Romish  Church  and  you  may  have  plenary,  or  full  and 
complete  indulgence  "once  a  mouth."  He  accepts,  says 
the  prayers  and  consummates  his  lustful  desires.  Let 
all  Catholicism  answer;  is  the  adulterer  exouorated 
from  heinous  guilt  on  the  proffer  and  by  the  agency  of 
the  pope?  What  say  the  priests,  the  bishops,  the  arch- 
bishops and  cardinals  of  Rome,  in  this  dawn  of  the 
twentieth  century  of  Christ? 

What  a  base  state  of  personal  morals  must  abide  in 
the  very  character  of  Leo  XIII.,  Pope  of  Rome,  to 
prompt  him  to  thus  let  loose  the  murderer,  the  thief, 
the  blasphemer,  the  seducer  and  the  libertine  to  prey 
upon  the  commonwealth  of  Protestant  England.  If 
that  country  is  not  thereby  reduced  to  the  deplorable 
moral  standard  of  Italy,  credit  should  be  given  to 
Protestant  education  and  morals. 

It    would    be    humorous,    if    not   so    disgustingly 


274  HISTOR  Y  OF  MEXICAN  POL  I  Tl  CS 

criminal,  to  see  the  alleged  vice-gerent  of  God  thus 
offer  and  barter  the  right  to  commit  sin  and  crime  as  an 
inducement  to  people  to  pray  for  the  increase  of  his 
dominion  in  England,  What  next  from  the  illogical, 
blasphemous  dago  of  Rome? 

Wisely  construing  the  spirit  of  the  constitution 
which  says:  "Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting 
an  establishment  of  religion  or  prohibiting  the  free 
exercise  thereof."  Congress  prohibited  the  claimed 
right  of  Mormons  to  persist  in  time  honored  immoral 
practices,  though  clothed  in  the  guise  of  religion.  Let 
1  lie  same  interposition  of  constitutional  power  overthrow 
mediaeval,  dark  age,  immoral  practices  of  Rome,  though 
in  the  cloak  of  religion  and  promoted  by  Leo  XIII.  and 
his  priestly  marshals.  Mormon's  practiced  indulgences, 
Leo  peddles  the  same. 

Rome  has  been  losing,  losing,  losing  upon  each 
battlefield  in  the  centuries  of  her  contest  with  good  gov- 
ernment, pure  morals  and  education.  In  Mexico  she 
lias  fallen  under  the  wheels  of  the  car  of  progress,  and 
by  her  own  children  has  been  crushed  lower  than  if  in 
contest  with  Protestantism;  for  the  lessons  of  extortion 
and  oppression  were  well  learned  in  the  centuries  of 
hard  experience.  So  they  were  ruthlessly  applied 
when  the  people's  turn  came,  and  the  Church  was  the 
victim. 

The  United  States  is  Rome's  last  hope.  Here  she 
expects  to  recoup  lor  her  losses  in  all  the  world  beside, 
deeming  our  liberality  to  be  her  opportunity. 

"Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty." 


BOOK   II 

HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

AND  OF 

THE  MEXICAN  WAR. 


History  of  Texas  and  Mexican  War. 


BOOK     II. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Introduction  to  Book  II. 

NO  HISTORY  of  Mexican  politics  would  be  com- 
plete without  the  stating  of  prominent  truths  re- 
lating to  the  independence  of  Texas,  the  annexa- 
tion of  that  state  to  the  American  Union  and  the  war 
between  Mexico  and  the  United  States.  The  involve- 
ment of  the  slavery  question  in  its  various  aspects  and 
interests  cast  such  a  shade  of  prejudice  over  the  above 
named  transactions  at  the  time  of  their  occurrence  that 
an  impartial  history  of  the  facts  can  scarcely  be  found 
and  the  American  mind  even  to  this  day  is  so  affected 
by  histories  heretofore  written  touching  these  matters, 
that  it  may  be  impossible  to  secure  access  to  public 
candor  in  any  attempt  to  remove  or  correct  those  preju- 
dices and  prepossessions  at  this  time. 

Yet,  as  one  who  carried  a  musket  as  an  American 
volunteer  soldier  in  the  war  with  Mexico,  the  compiler 
of  facts  hereinafter  presented  feels  a  sense  of  duty  rest- 
ing upon  him  to  assert  that  great  injustice  is  done  when 
the  United  States  and  her  gallant  and  conquering  army 
who  achieved  victory  in  Mexico  in  1846-8  are  written 
down  as  wrong-doers. 


4  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

Mexico  imposed  upon  Texas  more  of  the  grievances 
and  outrages  of  misrule  than  did  England  upon  the 
American  colonies.  Texas  endured  with  patience, 
hoping  and  petitioning  for  a  return  to  the  methods  of 
the  constitution,  and  with  assurances  of  an  unswerving 
fealty  to  Mexico,  made  her  appeals  for  redress. 

Regardless  of  constitution,  of  right  or  pledge,  the 
outrages  continued,  until  beyond  the  bounds  of  endur- 
ance and  finally  culminated  in  the  sending  of  an  army 
which  invaded  Texas,  to  subdue  the  people  by  force. 
This  army  acknowledged  no  principle  of  action  but  the 
base  will  of  Santa  Anna,  the  dictator;  and  had  for  its 
object  the  slaughter  of  all  who  would  not  surrender  all 
individual  and  constitutional  rights.  This  left  the 
people  no  alternative  but  disgraceful  submission  or  an 
honorable  struggle  for  independence. 

Then  the  people  in  an  orderly  manner  proceeded  to 
sever  their  political  relations  with  the  outrageously 
offending  nation,  and  with  a  wonderful  display  of  mar- 
tial power,  defeated  the  Mexican  army  in  one  campaign, 
captured  their  oppressor,  the  Mexican  president,  secured 
their  independence  by  a  treaty  mutual  in  its  terms, 
obligations  and  benefits,  assumed  their  place  among 
independent  nations,  and  maintained  their  nationality 
fur  nine  years  without  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  Mexico 
to  n-  establish  its  authority  over  the  lost  province. 

The  United  States  had  the  right  to  treat  with  Texas 

for  political  unity,  regardless  of  the  wishes  or  threats  of 

')    and    without    consulting    Spain    either,  which 

country  had   not  yet  assumed   national  amenities  with 

its  successfully  rebellious  Mexican  people. 

When  annexation  was  consummated   the  Mexican 

rnment,   people   and   army,  took    such   action  that 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  5 

war  was  unavoidable  and  justifiable  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States.  The  war  was  conducted  on  the  highest 
civilized  principles,  was  brought  to  a  close  on  the  first 
possible  opportunity  and  on  the  most  equitable  terms 
consistent  with  the  principles  of  justice  and  refined 
civilization,  and  the  results  upon  progress,  human 
rights  and  good  government  have  been  so  manifest  that 
any  and  all  who  contributed  thereto  should  be  regarded 
as  benefactors  of  their  own  country,  as  well  as  of  "the 
rest  of  mankind. ' ' 


CHAPTER  II.— TEXAS. 


1684  TO   1836. 

Discovery  and  Occupation  of  Texas — Changes 
Owners — Jointly  With  Coahuila  a  Mexican 
State — Wants  Separate  Statehood — Suffers 
Outrages  From  Santa  Anna,  Mexican  Dic- 
tator— Defends  and  Defeats — Provisional 
Government — Captures  the  Alamo — Battles 
and  Outrages — Declaration  of  Independence. 

TEXAS,  containing  nearly  three  hundred  thousand 
square  miles  of  territory  and  extending  seven 
hundred  and  forty  miles  north  and  south  and 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  east  and  west, 
greatest  distances  considered,  and  reaching  from  the 
Sabine  to  the  Rio  Grande,  was  the  home  and  the  hunt- 
in-  grounds  of  unknown  Indian  tribes  when  Cortez 
with  his  few  hundreds  of  Spaniards  conquered  the 
A /tecs. 

In  1684  the  French  explorer,  L,a  Salle,  descended 
the  Mississippi  river,  and  at  its  mouth  took  possession 
in  the  name  of  L,ouis  XIV.,  king  of  France,  of  the 
entire  region.  Hence  the  name  Louisiana,  as  applied 
to  that  then  unbounded  domain.  In  1687  a  French 
settlement  was  founded  at  Matagorda  bay,  but  in  1690 
Spaniards  in  superior  numbers  drove  out  the  French 
and  established  colonies  in  the  country,  which  they 
named  New  Phillipines,  but  the  Comanche  and  Apache 

« 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  7 

Indians  harassed  the  settlers  and  greatly  retarded  their 
success. 

In  1762  Louisiana  was  ceded  to  Spain  by  the 
French,  but  in  1802  it  was  returned  to  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte, then  first  consul  of  France;  and  in  1S03  he,  with- 
out taking  formal  possession,  sold  it  to  the  United 
States.  While  the  boundaries  were  not  specifically 
mentioned,  it  was  considered  that  the  Louisiana  pur- 
chase embraced  Texas.  So  settlements  were  immedi- 
ately begun  in  the  new  territory,  and  within  fifteen 
years  there  were  nearly  10,000  Americans  settled  there, 
and  efforts  were  made  to  hold  the  country  against 
S^ain,  which  claimed  that  the  laud  transferred  to 
F:ance  in  1802  did  not  include  Texas.  In  the  contests 
which  ensued  more  than  2,500  Americans  and  Hispano 
Mexicans  were  killed.  The  revolution  of  1S10  gave 
opportunity  for  lawlessness  and  hostilities  which  was 
fully  improved. 

But  in  the  year  1S19  these  residents  of  Texas  were 
greatly  surprised  to  learn  that  the  United  States,  when 
purchasing  Florida  from  Spain,  had  surrendered  Texas 
to  that  country  in  the  treaty.  They  made  a  vigorous 
protest  to  the  government  at  Washington,  wherein  they 
stated  that  they  had  supposed  themselves  to  be  safe 
under  the  protection  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  now  they  found  themselves  suddenly  "aban- 
doned to  the  dominion  of  the  crown  of  Spain  and  left  a 
prey  to  all  those  exactions  which  Spanish  rapacity  is 
fertile  in  devising  by  a  treaty,  to  which  they  were  not  a 
party."  Their  protest  of  course  was  fruitless  of  results. 
The  Spanish  authorities  in  Mexico,  however,  mani- 
fested a  disposition  to  welcome  their  newly  acquired 
citizens  and  enacted  such  laws,  having   the  object  to 


8  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

encourage  immigration,  that  the  American-born  popula- 
tion of  the  province  of  Texas  soon  became  reconciled, 
numerous  and  prosperous. 

The  leading  pioneer  in  Texas  colonization  was 
Moses  Austin,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  in  1821 
obtained  leave  from  the  government  to  piant  a  colony. 
He  died  soon  after,  and  in  obedience  to  his  request  his 
sou,  Stephen  Austin,  proceeded  to  the  country,  selected 
a  site  for  a  colony  between  the  Brazos  and  the  Colorado, 
and  before  the  close  of  the  year  the  hum  of  industry 
broke  the  silence  of  the  wilderness. 

As  the  grant  had  been  made  by  the  Spanish 
authorities  of  Mexico,  it  became  necessary  on  the 
change  of  government  to  have  the  grant  confirmed. 
Austin  went  to  the  City  of  Mexico  for  that  purpose. 
The  confirmation  was  obtained  first  from  Iturbide  and 
afterwards  from  the  federal  government.  The  absence 
of  Austin  caused  the  partial  abandonment  of  the  colon}-, 
but  his  return  again  started  the  work,  and  in  twelve 
years  the  settlement  contained  10,000  people. 

In  May,  1824,  Texas  became  provisionally  annexed 
to  Coahuila  until  its  population  and  prosperity  should 
entitle  it  to  a  separate  state  organization,  and  in  August 
the  two  provinces  united  and  became  one  of  the  states 
of  the  Mexican  republic. 

On  the  24th  of  March,  1825,  the  state  colonization 

law    was    passed,   under   which    grants    were    made    to 

empressarios  or  contractors,  the  greater  number  of  whom 

from  the    United    States.     The  object  of  the  law 

to  »ecure  immigrants.     The  terms  were  favorable 

and  the  encouragement  great.     So  under  the  extraordi- 

efforts  thus   made  by   the   Mexican   government, 

many  new  colonies  were  formed,  chiefly  by  former  citi- 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  g 

zens  of  the  United  States.  By  one  of  the  terms  of  the 
contracts,  all  newcomers  were  to  possess  a  certificate  of 
membership  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  otherwise 
they  could  not  acquire  title  to  their  lands;  schools  and 
churches  of  that  faith  were  also  provided  for. 

Peace  and  prosperity  prevailed  with  the  exception 
of  some  Indian  troubles  up  to  1826,  when  some  dis- 
appointed applicants  for  land  inaugurated  a  movement 
to  throw  off  the  Mexican  yoke  and  establish  a  republic 
by  the  name  of  Fredonia.  Austin  and  a  large  number 
of  bona  fide  settlers  assisted  in  the  suppression  of  this 
outbreak.  The  movement,  however,  had  a  marked 
effect  upon  the  feelings  and  policy  of  the  Mexican  gov- 
ernment towards  American  immigration.  Troops  were 
sent  into  the  country  under  various  pretexts,  until  in 
1832  they  numbered  1,300. 

Other  causes  conspired  to  increase  the  jealousy  of 
Mexico  and  alarm  her  for  the  eventual  security  of  Texas. 
In  1827  the  minister  from  the  United  States  was  directed 
to  offer  Mexico  $1,000,000,  and  two  years  after  "to  go 
as  high  as  $5,000,000"  for  a  boundary  between  the 
high-lands  of  the  Nueces  and  the  Rio  Grande,  stating 
that  there  was  "a  deep  conviction  of  the  real  necessity 
of  the  proposed  acquisition  which  would  guard  the 
western  frontier,  protect  New  Orleans  and  secure  un- 
disputed possession  of  the  Mississippi  river. ' '  Instead 
of  receiving  these  propositions  with  favor,  Mexico  had 
an  increase  of  jealousy  which  was  shown  by  a  law  pub- 
lished in  1830,  evidently  directed  against  Texas,  and 
which  suspended  many  contracts  already  made,  and 
prohibited  the  entrance  of  people  from  the  United  States 
unless  furnished  with  a  Mexican  passport.  This  rigorous 
and  unforseen  enactment  subjected  many  immigrants 


io  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

to  great  injur}'  and  loss.  Many  who  had  already- 
settled  were  denied  titles  to  land,  and  others  who  had 
abandoned  their  homes  in  the  United  States  were 
ordered  on  their  arrival  to  leave  the  country,  this  being 
the  first  intimation  which  they  received  of  the  existence 
of  the  law.  At  the  same  time  the  garrisons  in  Texas 
were  increased  and  civil  authority  began  to  be  super- 
ceded by  martial  law. 

The  commandants  of  the  garrisons  illegally  took 
into  their  own  hands  the  enforcement  of  the  auti- 
i m migration  laws  of  1830,  committed  violent  and  arbi- 
trary acts  in  contravention  of  state  law  and  authority, 
and  infringed  upon  the  personal  liberties  of  the  people. 

In  1 83 1  a  state  commissioner  was  arrested  while 
he,  in  pursuance  of  his  official  duty,  was  putting  settlers 
in  possession  of  their  lauds.  Peaceful  and  respectable 
citizens  were  arrested  simply  because  they  had  rendered 
themselves  obnoxious  to  military  officers,  one  of  whom 
was  the  gallant  and  patriotic  Travis,  who  afterwards 
defended  the  Alamo  and  became  a  martyr  to  Texan 
independence.  Incensed  by  these  lawless  acts,  the 
colonists  assembled  to  the  number  of  150  men,  and  led 
by  John  Austin,  respectfully  applied  for  the  release  of 
the  prisoners.  A  refusal  was  given  and  the  prisoners 
were  subjected  to  the  outrage  of  being  pinioned  to  the 
ground.  An  attack  was  then  made  upon  the  garrison. 
After  a  battle  and  a  parley  the  Texans  had  success  and 

ired  the  release  of  the  prisoners  and  the  surrender 
of  the  troops  and  fort.  In  the  entire  affair  eleven 
as  were  killed  and  fifty-two  wounded,  twelve  of 
them  mortally.  Of  the  125  Mexicans  who  composed 
the  garrison,  about  one-half  were  killed  and  seventeen 
lo  I  their  hands  by  the  skillful  use  of  rifles  in  the  hands 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  u 

of  Texans,  who  shot  at  the  hands  of  the  cautioners  as 
they  attempted  to  fire  the  artillery.  Thus  on  the  26th 
of  June,  1832,  took  place  the  first  collision  of  settlers 
and  Mexican  soldiers. 

During  these  events  the  revolution  in  Mexico  was 
in  progress,  which  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  Busta- 
mente  and  the  restoration  of  the  federal  constitution 
which  had  been  subverted  by  him.  Santa  Anna 
acquired  his  first  influence  in  national  affairs,  restored 
Pedraza  and  was  himself  elected  to  the  presidency  in 
1833.  He  assumed  absolute  power  and  dictated  the 
policies  of  Mexico  regarding  Texas  until  the  independ- 
ence of  the  latter  was  secured. 

In  April,  1833,  representatives  of  the  people  of 
Texas  met  at  San  Felipe  de  Austin — now  Austin,  the 
capital  of  Texas,  and  petitioned  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment for  the  erection  of  Texas  into  a  state,  giving  good 
and  sufficient  reasons  for  their  action  and  petition. 
They  represented  the  fact  that  Texas  possessed  the 
necessary  elements  for  a  state  government,  which  she 
asked  might  be  given  her  in  accordance  with  the 
guarantees  of  the  act  of  May  7,  1824.  For  her  attach- 
ment to  the  federal  constitution  and  to  the  republic  the 
petitioners  pledged  their  lives  and  honor. 

Stephen  F.  Austin  took  this  memorial  to  Mexico, 
where  he  arrived  soon  after  the  accession  of  Santa  Anna 
to  the  presidency.  He  was  misunderstood,  delayed 
and  refused.  He  wrote  to  the  municipality  of  Bexar, 
recommending  that  the  people  of  Texas  should  immedi- 
ately organize  a  state  government  as  the  only  course 
that  could  save  them  from  anarchy  and  destruction. 
After  being  unfavorably  commented  on  by  Texans,  the 
letter   was   sent  to  the  Mexican   government.     Orders 


12  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

were  issued  for  the  arrest  of  Austin,  which  were  exe- 
cuted at  Saltillo,  600  miles  from  the  capital,  where  he 
was  found  en  route  to  his  home.  He  was  taken  to  the 
City  of  Mexico,  imprisoned  in  a  dungeon,  and  for  more 
than  a  year  was  refused  the  privilege  of  speaking  to  or 
corresponding  with  any  one.  It  was  only  at  the  end  of 
two  years  and  a  half ,  in  September,  1835,  that  he  was 
permitted  to  return  to  his  home,  having  witnessed 
during  his  captivity  the  usurpations  of  Santa  Anna  and 
the  overthrow  of  the  federal  constitution  of  1824. 

The  arbitrary  proceedings  of  Santa  Anna  and  the 
collision  between  him  and  congress  had  divided  public 
sentiment  in  Mexico,  and  Texas  experienced  the  ill 
effects  of  the  issues.  Two  parties  sprung  up  among  the 
Americans,  one  for  proclaiming  the  province  an  inde- 
pendent state  of  the  Mexican  federation  at  every  hazard, 
the  other  wishing  to  obtain  a  state  government  by  con- 
stitutional methods  without  resorting  to  revolution. 
None,  however,  sustained  the  arbitrary  measures  of 
Santa  Anna.  When  the  intelligence  of  the  "Plan  of 
Toluca"  reached  Texas,  together  with  the  favor  it  re- 
ceived from  the  usurping  authorities  of  Mexico,  it  be- 
came  evident  to  the  people  that  the  federal  system  of 
t82  1  was  to  be  dissolved  by  force;  that  the  vested  rights 
of  Texas  under  the  constitution  were  to  be  disregarded 
and  violated  and  that  the  liberties  of  the  people  were  to 
have  no  better  guarantee  than  the  capricious  will  of 
their  most  bitter  enemies. 

Hitherto  the  great  majority  of  Texans  had  opposed 

violent  measures;  they  had  repeatedly  declared  them- 

idy  to  discharge  their  duties  as  faithful  citizens 

of  Mexico,  attached   by   interest  and   inclination  to  the 

federal  contract,  and  they  consoled  themselves  under 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  13 

the  many  evils  they  had  suffered  with  the  hope  that 
they  would  soon  have  the  benefit  of  a  good  local  gov- 
ernment by  the  acknowledgment  of  Texas  as  an  inde- 
pendent member  of  the  Mexican  Union ,  nor  was  it  until 
the  course  of  events  demonstrated  the  fallacy  of  this 
hope  that  they  yielded  to  despondency  or  planned  for 
resistance. 

When  Stephen  Austin  returned  to  Texas  from  his 
imprisonment  in  Mexico,  on  his  advice  committees  of 
safety  were  organized  and  the  people  resolved  to  insist 
on  their  rights  under  the  constitution  of  1S24.  In  the 
meantime  Santa  Anna  was  concentrating  troops  for  the 
invasion  of  Texas,  and  the  old  barracks  at  Matamoras, 
Goliad  and  San  Antonio  de  Bexar  were  being  prepared 
to  receive  large  re-enforcements.  The  constitutional 
governor  of  Coahuila  and  Texas  was  deposed  by  the 
military  and  a  new  one  appointed  by  Santa  Anna,  and 
the  commandant  at  Bexar  was  ordered  to  march  into 
Texas  and  capture  offensive  persons,  to  disarm  citizens 
and  to  provide  for  a  complete  military  control  of  the 
country. 

Satisfied  that  the  moment  for  decisive  action  had 
arrived,  the  central  committee  of  safety  called  the 
people  to  arms  to  defend  themselves,  their  rights,  their 
homes  and  their  country. 

On  the  3d  of  November  a  general  convention  of 
delegates  assembled  at  San  Felipe,  Austin,  and  on  the 
7th  adopted  a  declaration  of  rights  setting  forth  the 
reasons  which  had  impelled  Texas  to  take  up  arms  and 
the  objects  for  which  she  contended.  After  setting 
forth,  as  causes  of  the  present  hostile  position  of  Texas, 
the  overthrow  of  the  federal  institutions  of  Mexico  and 
the  dissolution  of  the  social  compact  which  had  existed 


i4  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

between  Texas  and  the  other  members  of  the  con- 
federacy, the  declaration  asserted  that  the  people  "had 
taken  up  arms  in  defense  of  their  rights  and  liberties, 
which  were  threatened  by  the  encroachments  of  military 
despots  and  in  the  defense  of  the  republican  principles 
of  the  federal  constitution  of  Mexico."  Moreover,  the 
compact  of  union  entered  into  by  Texas  and  Coahuila 
with  Mexico  was  declared  to  have  been  broken  by  the 
latter,  and  to  be  no  longer  binding  on  Texas;  jTet  the 
people  pledged  themselves  to  continue  faithful  to  the 
Mexican  government  so  long  as  that  nation  should 
adhere  to  the  constitution  and  laws  under  whose  guaran- 
tees Texas  had  been  settled  and  had  become  a  member 
of  the  Mexican  republic. 

The  convention  also  proceeded  to  the  formation  and 
adoption  of  a  plan  for  a  provisional  government  of  Texas, 
and  chose  Henry  Smith  governor,  with  ample  executive 
power,  and  Samuel  Houston  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army.  General  Austin  was  appointed  commissioner  to 
the  United  .States. 

When  Santa  Anna  with  his  army  had  suppressed 
the  constitutional  party  in  Zacatecas  in  May,  1835,  an(i 
found  himself  without  armed  opposition,  except  in 
Texas,  he  concentrated  his  forces  for  the  conquest  of 
that  part  of  his  dominions.  But  the  Texans  met  force 
with  force,  and  defeated  a  detachment  of  the  Mexican 
army  on  the  28th  of  September,  near  the  town  of  Gon- 
zales, and  on  the  Sth  of  October  they  captured  Goliad 
with  its  garrison.  Emboldened  by  these  successes  they 
concentrat<  '1  their  forces  and  laid  siege  to  San  Antonio 
>  u  here  the  Mexicans  had  a  force  in  thecity  as 
1     in  the    famous    Alamo,  the  whole   numbering 

' ',  while  the  Texans  could  muster  only  500  men. 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  15 

At  daylight  on  (he  morning  of  the  1  ith  of  Decem- 
ber, the  black  and  red  flag  which  had  been  waxing 
from  the  Alamo  during  the  siege,  in  token  of  no  quarter, 
was  withdrawn,  and  a  flag  of  truce  was  sent  to  the 
Texans,  indicating  a  desire  to  capitulate.  Soon  terms 
were  agreed  upon.  General  Cos  and  his  officers  were 
allowed  to  retire  to  Mexico  on  their  paroles  of  honor, 
they  would  not  in  any  way  oppose  the  re-establishment 
of  the  federal  constitution  of  1824,  and  the  troops  were 
allowed  to  go  or  stay  at  will.  On  the  15th  General  Cos 
with  his  humiliated  followers  commenced  the  march  to 
the  interior,  and  in  a  few  days  not  a  Mexican  soldier 
was  to  be  seen  from  the  Sabine  to  the  Rio  Grande. 

This  defeat  exasperated  Santa  Anna  and  he  concen- 
trated a  force  of  8,000  men,  with  a  large  artillery  train 
on  the  Rio  Grande,  personally  took  the  command  and 
directing  General  Urrea  with  a  division  to  sweep  the 
country  from  Matamoras  along  the  coast  in  the  direction 
of  Goliad,  he  marched  with  the  main  force  upon  Bexar. 
The  Texans  divided  their  forces,  leaving  only  150  men, 
under  command  of  Colonel  Travis,  to  defend  the  Alamo, 
while  others,  to  the  number  of  about  500,  were  with 
Colonel  Fannin  at  Goliad.  Santa  Anna  laid  siege  to  the 
Alamo  on  February  23d. 

Colonel  Travis  with  his  little  band  defended  against 
more  than  4,000  Mexicans.  He  wrote  to  the  Texan 
commander  for  re-enforcements,  declaring  his  intention 
to  defend  to  the  utmost.  He  said,  "I  will  never  sur- 
render nor  retreat.  I  am  determined  to  sustain  myself 
as  long  as  possible,  and  die  like  a  soldier  who  never  for- 
gets what  is  due  to  his  own  honor  and  that  of  his 
country." 

Soon  after  midnight,  on  the  6th  of  March,  the  en- 


1 6  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

tire  army,  commanded  by  Santa  Anna  in  person,  sur- 
rounded the  Alamo  for  the  purpose  of  taking  it  by  storm 
at  any  cost;  and  amidst  the  discharge  of  musketry  and 
artillery  the  advance  was  made  towards  the  fort.  Twice 
repulsed  in  their  attempts  to  scale  the  walls,  they  were 
again  impelled  to  the  assault  by  the  exertions  of  their 
officers;  and  borne  onward  by  the  presure  from  the 
rear  they  mounted  the  walls  and,  in  the  expressive 
language  of  an  eye  witness,  they  "tumbled  over  like 
sheep."  Then  commenced  the  last  struggle.  Travis 
received  a  shot  as  he  stood  on  the  wall  cheering  on  his 
men;  and  as  he  fell  a  Mexican  officer  rushed  forward  to 
despatch  him.  Summoning  up  his  powers  for  a  final 
effort,  Travis  met  his  assailant  with  a  thrust  of  his  sword 
and  both  expired  together. 

The  brave  defenders  of  the  fort,  overborne  by  multi- 
tudes and  unable  in  the  throng  to  load  their  fire  arms, 
continued  the  combat  with  the  butt  ends  of  their  rifles 
until  only  seven  were  left,  and  these  were  refused 
quarter.  Of  all  the  persons  in  the  place  only  two  were 
spared,  a  Mrs.  Dickerson  and  a  negro  servant  of  the 
commandant's.  Colonel  James  Bowie  was  murdered  in 
his  sick-bed,  and  the  eccentric  David  Crockett  of  Ten- 

ee  lay  dead,  surrounded  by  victims  of  his  personal 
prowess. 

The  bodies  of  the  dead  were  stripped,  thrown  into 
a  heap  and  burned,  after  being  subjected  to  brutal  in- 
dignities. Santa  Anna  and  his  brother-in-law,  General 
b  tin  nst  their  swords  and  daggers  into  the 
bodies  of  officers.  Travis  especially  had  his  face  and 
limbs  mutilated.  No  authenticated  account  of  the  Mexi- 
1  m  Loss  has  been  obtained,  but  it  has  been  variously 
estimated  at  from  i,oooto  1,500. 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  17 

While  these  events  were  taking  place  at  Bexar,  a 
general  convention  of  delegates  had  assembled  at  Wash- 
ington, on  the  Brazos,  in  obedience  to  a  call  of  the  pro- 
visional government,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
question  whether  Texas  should  continue  to  struggle  for 
the  re-establishment  of  the  Mexican  federal  constitution 
of  1824,  or  make  a  Declaration  of  Independence  and  form 
a  republican  government.  On  the  2d  of  March,  1836, 
the  convention  agreed  unanimously  to  a  Declaration  of 
Independence,  in^frhich  the  provocations  which  ^ed  to  it 
were  recited,  and  the  necessity  and  justice  of  the  neas- 
ure  ably  vindicated.  "The  Mexican  government,"  the 
Declaration  asserted,  "by  its  colonization  laws,  invited 
and  induced  the  Anglo-American  population  of  Texas 
to  colonize  its  wilderness,  under  the  pledged  faith  of  a 
written  constitution,  that  they  should  continue  to  enjoy 
that  constitutional  liberty  and  republican  government  to 
which  they  had  been  habituated  in  the  land  of  their 
birth,  the  United  States  of  America. 

'In  this  expectation  they  have  been  cruelly  disap- 
pointed, inasmuch  as  the  Mexican  people  have  acqui- 
esced in  the  late  changes  in  the  government  made  by 
General  Antonio  Dopez  de  Santa  Anna,  who,  having 
overturned  the  constitution  of  his  country,  now  offers  to 
us  the  crnel  alternatives,  either  to  abandon  onr  homes, 
acquired  by  so  many  privations,  or  submit  to  the  most 
intolerable  of  all  tyranny,  the  combined  despotism  of  the 
sword  and  the  priesthood." 

After  a  recapitulation  of  the  numerous  grievances 
endured  from  Mexican  mal-adininistration  and  faithless- 
ness, the  Declaration  thus  continues:  "These  and  other 
grievances  were  patiently  borne  by  the  people  of  Texas, 
until    they    reached    that    point    at    which    forbearance 


iS  HISTORY  OF  TEX  A3 

ceased  to  be  a  virtue.  We  then  took  up  arms  in  defense 
of  the  national  constitution.  We  appealed  to  our  Mexi- 
can brethren  for  assistance;  our  appeal  has  been  made 
in  vain.  Though  months  have  elapsed,  no  sympathetic 
response  has  yet  been  heard  from  the  interior.  We  are 
consequently  forced  to  the  melancholy  conclusion  that 
the  Mexican  people  have  acquiesced  in  the  destruction 
of  their  liberty,  and  the  substitution,  therefor,  of  a  mili- 
tary government.  The  necessity  of  self-preservation 
now  decrees  our  eternal  political  separation.  We,  there- 
fore, the  delegates  of  Texas,  with  plenary  powers,  in 
solemn  convention  assembled,  appealing  to  a  candid 
world  for  the  necessities  of  our  condition,  do  hereby  re- 
solve and  Declare,  that  our  political  connection  with 
the  Mexican  nation  has  forever  ended;  and  that  the  peo- 
ple of  Texas  do  now  constitute  a  Free  Sovereign,  and 
I  m>i  ri-.XDExT  REPUBLIC,  and  are  fully  invested  with 
all  the  rights  and  attributes  which  properly  belong  to 
independent  states;  and  conscious  of  the  rectitude  of  our 
intentions,  we  fearlessly  and  confidently  commit  the  is- 
sue to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Arbiter  of  the  desti- 
nies of  nations. 


CHAPTER  III. 


[836  to  1S45. 

Constitution  Adopted  —  State  Government  Ok 
ganized  —  Inaugural  Address  —  Mexican 
Troops  Sweep  the  State — Santa  Anna  Pre- 
pares  To  Return  to  Mexico — Battle  op  San 
Jacinto — Santa  Anna  Defeated  and  Captured 
—  Treaty  —  Independence  of  Texas  —  Santa 
Anna  Visits  President  Jackson  —  Sent  to 
Mexico  —  Peace  and  Independence  —  Recog- 
nized by  the  United  States,  France  and 
England — Annexed  to  the  United  States. 

FIFTY  delegates  subscribed  the  Declaration,  and  on 
the  1  7 tli  of  March,  1836,  a  constitution  for  the  Re- 
public of  Texas  wasadopted,  and  executive  officers 
were  appointed  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  government 
until  the  first  election  under  the  constitution.  David G. 
Burnett,  the  son  of  an  officer  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, was  appointed  provisional  president. 

In  his  inaugural  address  he  reminded  the  delegates 
of  their  duties  and  of  the  glorious  enterprise  in  which 
they  were  engaged,  referred  to  the  inheritance  of 
gallantry  descending  to  them  from  1776;  and  exorted 
them  to  unite  as  brothers  with  a  single  eye  to  the  one 
common  object,  the  redemption  of  Texas.  He  said,  "We 
are  about  as  we  trust  to  establish  a  name  among  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth;  let  us  be  watchful,  that  this  name 


2o  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

shall  not  inflict  a  mortification  upon  the  illustrious  peo- 
ple from  whom  we  have  sprung  nor  entail  reproach 
upon  our  decendants.  We  are  acting  for  posterity;  and 
while,  with  a  devout  reliance  on  the  God  of  battles, 
we  shall  roll  back  the  flood  that  threatens  to  deluge 
our  borders,  let  us  present  to  the  world  such  evidences 
of  our  moral  and  political  rectitude  as  will  compel  the 
respect,  if  not  constrain  the  sympathies  of  other  and 
older  nations.  The  day  and  the  hour  has  arrived 
when  every  free-man  must  be  up  and  doing  his  duty. 
The  Alamo  has  fallen;  the  gallant  few  who  so  long  sus- 
tained it  have  yielded  to  the  overwhelming  power  of 
numbers;  and,  if  our  intelligence  be  correct,  they  have 
perished  in  one  indiscriminate  slaughter;  but  they  per- 
ished  not  in  vain!  The  ferocious  tyrant  has  purchased 
his  triumph  over  one  little  band  of  heroes  at  a  costly 
price;  and  a  few  such  victories  would  bring  down  speeds- 
ruin  upon  himself.  Let  us,  therefore,  fellow  citizens, 
take  courage  from  this  glorious  disaster;  and  while  the 
smoke  from  the  funeral  piles  of  our  bleeding  and  burn- 
ing brothers  ascends  to  heaven,  let  us  implore  the  aid  of 
an  incensed  God,  who  abhors  iniquity,  who  ruleth  in 
righteousness  and  will  avenge  the  oppressed." 

While  Santa  Anna  was  operating  against  San  An- 
tonio <le  Bexar,  Urrea  in  obedience  to  orders  moved 
along  tlu-  coast,  meeting  with  but  little  resistance  from 
parties  sent  out  for  the  assistance  of  families  removing 
to  places  of  safety.  In  all  encounters  he  was  successful 
and  captured  man)-  small  parties,  all  of  whom  he  in- 
variably pu1  to  death.  Colonel  Kannin,  having  depleted 
by  sending  out  detachments,  finding  that  Ur- 
rea was  moving  upon  Goliad  with  greatly  superior  num- 
atti  tnpted  a  retreat,  was  surrounded  and  compelled 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  21 

to  surrender.  He  was  taken  back  to  Goliad,  where  were 
finally  assembled  about  400  prisoners.  These  were  all 
cruelly  put  to  death  with  the  exception  of  a  fortunate 
few,  who  escaped.  These  butcheries  were  made  under 
orders  of  Santa  Anna  in  accordance,  as  he  afterwards 
declared,  with  a  law  of  the  supreme  government.  Inas- 
much as  he  was  at  that  time  substantially  the  govern- 
ment, he  was  therefore  not  exculpated;  and  the  massacre 
of  Fannin  and  his  companions  in  arms  stamps  with  in- 
famy the  government  of  Mexico  and  all  officers  con- 
cerned in  the  act. 

From  the  hour  that  the  fate  of  Travis  and  Fannin 
and  their  brave  comrades  became  known,  a  spirit  was 
awakened  among  the  hardy  population  of  the  west  which 
would  never  have  slumbered  while  a  Mexican  soldier 
remained  east  of  the  Rio  Grande.  It  was  this  which  led 
to  a  rapid  influx  of  Americans  into  Texas;  and  though 
they  were  not  required  to  secure  her  independence,  they 
aided  in  strengthening  the  military  resources  of  the  na- 
tion, and  thus  discouraged  the  Mexicans  from  making 
any  further  systematic  attempts  to  subdue  the  county, 
The  barbarities  of  the  Mexicans  also  excited  sympathy 
throughout  the  United  States,  and  thus  largely  prepared 
the  way  for  the  entrance  of  Texas  into  the  American 
Union. 

But  Santa  Anna  entertained  no  sentiments  of  sym- 
pathy for  the  sufferings  or  wrongs  inflicted  upon  the 
Texaus.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  highly  elated  with 
the  success  which  had  followed  his  campaigns;  and, 
under  the  impression  that  the  people  would  make  no 
further  resistance,  he  began  to  apportion  his  forces  to 
different  quarters  for  taking  complete  military  posses- 
sion of  Texas.     One  division  was  sent  to  San  Felipe  de 


22  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS* 

Austin,  another  to  Goliad,  and  a  third  to  the  post  of 
Nacogdoches  near  the  American  frontier. 

Believing  that  his  presence  in  the  country  was  not 
necessary,  he  made  preparations  to  turn  the  command 
over  to  General  Filsola  and  start  on  the  ist.  of  April  for 
the  City  of  Mexico.  He,  however,  abandoned  for  a  time 
his  own  departure  and  the  movement  of  his  forces,  that 
he  might  pursue  and  dispose  of  the  last  remaining 
Texan  army,  which,  under  the  command  of  General 
Houston,  was  concentrating  near  the  head  of  Galveston 
Bay. 

In  due  time  he  drew  near  to  this  last  force  of  the 
enemy,  and  after  some  skirmishing  the  two  armies  con- 
fronted each  other  on  the  banks  of  the  San  Jacinto,  on 
the  20th  of  April,  and  encamped  for  the  night.  About  9 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  21st,  General  Cos  re-en- 
forced Santa  Anna,  bringing  his  numbers  up  to  nearly 
men,  while  Houston  had  783.  At  3:30  o'clock 
Houston  ordered  a  parade  of  his  forces,  having  previ- 
ously destroyed  the  bridges  on  the  only  road  to  the 
Brazos,  thus  cutting  off  escape  for  the  Mexicans  should 
they  be  defeated.  The  troops  paraded  with  alacrity  and 
spirit.  The  disparity  in  numbers  increased  their  en- 
thusfcasm  and  heightened  their  anxiety  for  the  conflict. 
The  order  of  battle  being  formed,  the  calvary,  sixty-one 
in  number,  commanded  by  Colonel  Mirabeau  B.  I,amar, 
moved  to  the  front  of  the  enemy's  left,  for  the  purpose 
of  attracting  their  attention,  while  the  main  body  ad- 
vanced rapidlyin  line,  the  artillery  consisting  of  two  six 
pounders,  taking  station  within  200  yardsof  the  enemy's 
twork.  With  the  exception  of  the  cannon,  which 
tusly  discharged  grape  and  canister,  not  a  gun  was 
'"' ■''  by  the  Texans  until  they  were  within  close  range 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  23 

of  the  enemy's  lines,  when  the  war  cry,  "Remember  the 
Alamo!'"''  was  raised.  The  inspiration  of  that  cry,  the 
memory  of  the  death  of  their  comrades,  and  the  fact  that 
the  murderers  were  now  before  them,  increased  their  zeal 
and  courage  to  a  frenzy.  They  rushed  in  one  desperate 
charge  upon  the  enemy's  works,  and  after  a  conflict  of 
twenty  minutes  gained  entire  possession  of  the  encamp- 
ment with  the  artillery,  colors,  camp  equipage,  stores 
and  baggage.  Such  was  the  suddenness,  desperation 
and  violence  of  the  onset  that  the  Mexicans  were  panic- 
stricken,  and  in  dismay  threw  down  their  arms  and  fled 
in  confusion.  The  Texan  cavalry  fell  upon  the  fugitives 
and  cut  them  down  by  platoons.  Never  was  a  route  more 
total  or  a  victory  more  complete.  The  whole  Mexican 
army  was  annihilated.  Scarcely  a  single  soldier  es- 
caped. Of  nearly  1600  men  who  commenced  the  action, 
630  were  killed,  208  wounded,  and  730  captured;  while 
of  the  Texans  only  eight  were  killed,  and  seventeen 
wounded.  On  the  next  day  Santa  Anna,  disguised  as  a 
common  soldier,  was  made  prisoner  while  hiding  in  the 
timber.  Not  knowing  his  name,  his  captors  at  his 
request  conveyed  him  to  General  Houston,  who  had 
been  wounded  in  the  ankle,  and  was  slumbering  on  a 
blanket  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  with  his  saddle  for  a  pillow. 
Santa  Anna  approached,  pressed  his  hand  (giving,  it  is 
said,  the  grip  of  a  world-wide  secret  order)  and  an- 
nounced himself  as  president  of  the  Mexican  republic 
and  commander-in-chief  of  the  army.  By  Houston's  de- 
sire he  seated  himself  on  a  medicine  chest,  but  was 
greatly  agitated.  Some  opium  having  been  given  him 
at  his  request,  he  swallowed  it  and  appeared  more  com- 
posed.   He  then  said  to  Houston,  "You  were  born  to  no 


24  HISTORY* OF  TEXAS 

ordinal  destiny;  you  have  conquered  the  Napoleon  of 
the  West." 

As  far  as  his  having  in  custody  the  president  and 
absolute  dictator  of  Mexico  was  concerned,  he  spoke  the 
truth.  Santa  Anna  in  his  person  was  the  embodiment 
of  the  Mexican  national  government,  and  his  will  was 
law.  He  deposed  governors  and  installed  rulers,  he 
subverted  the  constitution  and  substituted  his  own  de- 
crees, and  none  dared  to  deny  his  authority  or  dictation, 
but  Mexican  historians  call  him  Napoleon  the  Little. 
Now  he  was  in  the  hands  of  the  survivors  of  the  Texan 
army,  a  part  of  which  he  had  murdered  without  restraint 
of  conscience  or  law,  and  the  question  which  agitated 
his  mind  was,  what  was  to  be  his  fate.  The  same  ques- 
tion was  raised  among  the  Texan  soldiers,  and  the 
unanimous  verdict  was,  "Let  him  be  put  to  death  as  a 
barbarous  monster  who  has  forfeited  a  thousand  lives." 
Only  one  man  stood  up  against  the  execution  of  the 
sentence  so  universally  pronounced,  and  that  was  Gen- 
eral Houston,  who,  while  he  approved  the  justice  of  the 
sentence,  nevertheless  had  in  view  motives  of  policy 
and  a  wish  to  serve  the  state.  It  was  only  by  the  exer- 
cise  of  extraordinary  firmness  on  his  part  that  the  life  of 
the  prisoner  was  spared. 

After  due  deliberation  the  general  agreed  upon  an 
armistice  with  his  prisoner ,  whereby  all  Mexican  troops 
in  Texas  were  to  retire.  The  leniency  shown  Santa 
Anna  came  near  disrupting  the  Texan  army,  ar.  1  a  stop 
was  put  to  the  plan  of  sending  the  captive  president 
back  to  Mexico,  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the 
armistice. 

In  tin-  meantime  President  Burnett  arrived  at  the 
camp,  ami  a  convention   was  held  between  those  two 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  25 

presidents,  one  representing  Mexico  and  the  other 
Texas.  On  the  14th  of  May,  1836,  it  was  stipulated  that 
hostilities  were  immediately  to  cease  between  Mexican 
and  Texan  troops.  The  Mexican  army  was  to  retire  be- 
yond the  Rio  Grande;  prisoners  were  to  be  exchanged; 
and  Santa  Anna  was  to  be  sent  to  Vera  Cruz  as  soon  as 
should  be  thought  proper.  On  the  same  day  a  treaty 
was  signed  by  the  two  presidents,  stipulating  that  the 
Mexican  cabinet  should  receive  a  mission  from  Texas; 
that  a  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  should  be  estab- 
lished between  the  two  republics;  that  the  Texan  terri- 
tory should  not  extend  beyond  the  Rio  Grande;  and 
that  the  immediate  embarkation  of  Santa  Anna  for  Vera 
Cruz  should  be  provided  for;  "his  prompt  return  being 
indispensable  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  his  engage- 
ments."  The  release  of  Santa  Anna  was,  however,  still 
opposed  and  hindered  by  the  army,  and  it  was  not  until 
December  that  General  Houston,  then  become  president, 
sent  him  out  of  the  country  by  way  of  the  United  States. 
Santa  Anna  had  previously  written  to  President 
Jackson  expressing  his  willingness  to  fulfill  his  stipula- 
tions with  the  Texan  authorities,  and  requesting  his 
mediation.  On  the  16th  of  December  Santa  Anna 
reached  Washington,  where  he  held  secret  conferences 
with  the  executive,  and  on  the  26th  of  the  same  month 
left'the  city,  being  furnished  by  President  Jackson  with 
a  ship  of  war  to  convey  him  to  Vera  Cruz,  where  he  ar- 
rived on  the  20th  of  February  following,  just  ten  months 
after  his  capture.  He,  true  to  his  perfidious  nature,  im- 
mediately addressed  a  letter  to  the  minister  of  war, 
wherein  he  disavowed  all  treaties  and  stipulations  what- 
ever, as  conditional  to  his  release,  and  declared  that 
rather  than  have  made  any  he  would  have  suffered  a 


26  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

thousand  deaths.  The  Mexican  congress  had  on  the 
20th  of  May  by  a  decree  suspended  the  presidential 
authority  of  Santa  Anna  while  he  was  a  prisoner,  and 
had  given  information  of  the  same  to  the  government  oj 
the  United  States. 

The  battle  of  San  Jacinto  gave  peace  to  Texas,  and 
the  rank  of  an  independent  state  among  the  nations  oi 
the  earth.  On  the  3d  of  March,  1837,  her  independence 
was  recognized  by  the  United  States.  This  was  followed 
by  recognition  and  treaties  on  the  part  of  France  in 
1839,  and  on  the  part  of  England  in  1840.  Mexico, 
however,  still  maintained  a  hostile  attitude  towards  her; 
and  by  repeated  threats  of  invasion  kept  alive  the 
martial  spirit  of  the  Texaiis,  but  no  serious  attempt  was 
ever  made  to  restore  Mexican  authority  in  that  state. 

All  attempts  on  the  part  of  Texas  to  establish  treaty 
relations  with  Mexico  were  fruitless  until  1840,  when 
the  latter  so  far  abated  her  opposition  as  to  receive  a 
Texan  agent,  and  permit  him  to  submit  the  basis  of  a 
treaty;  but  on  the  restoration  of  Santa  Anna  to  power, 
in  1841,  Mexico  again  assumed  a  war-like  attitude,  de- 
claring to  the  world  that  she  would  not  vary  her  posi- 
tion "  'till  she  planted  her  eagle  standard  on  the  banks 
of  the  Sabine." 

Prom  tin-  independence  of  Texas  to  the  time  when 
she  became  a  state  in  the  American  Union,  as  many  in- 
vasions of  Mexico  by  Texan  troops  were  attempted  as 
were  mid'-  or  projected  by  the  Mexicans  into  the  terri- 
tory of  the  I, one  Star  state,  but  in  each  case  they  were 
finitk-ss  of  national  results. 

When  Texas,  soon  after  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto, 
risked  the  United  States  to  recognize  her  independence, 
it  was  with  the  avowed  design  of  treating  immediately 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  27 

for  the  transfer  of  her  territory  to  the  American  Union. 
The  opinions  of  President  Jackson  as  expressed  by  mes- 
sage to  congress  were,  that  it  would  be  unwise,  as  it 
might,  however  unjustly,  subject  the  United  States  tc 
the  imputation  of  seeking  to  establish  the  claim  of  het 
neighbor  to  a  territory  with  a  view  to  its  subsequent 
acquisition  by  herself.  He  therefore  advised  that  11c 
steps  be  taken  until  the  lapse  of  time,  or  the  course  oi 
events  should  have  proved  beyond  cavil,  or  dispute  the 
ability  of  the  Texan  people  to  maintain  their  separate 
sovereignty,  and  the  government  constituted  by  them. 

During  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  in  1837, 
another  and  more  formal  proposition  was  made  by  the 
Texan  envoy  at  Washington  to  secure  annexation.  But 
the  president  earnestly  and  successfully  resisted  any 
favorable  action  thereon.  There  was  serious  antagon- 
istic action  taken  in  several  of  the  states  against  annexa- 
tion, and  the  people  of  Texas  were  not  by  any  means  a 
unit  in  its  favor.  But  in  the  presidential  election  held 
in  the  United  States  in  1844,  the  question  of  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas  was  in  issue,  and  the  matter  was  favorably 
determined  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Polk,  who  had 
earnestly  approved  the  measure.  The  congresses  of 
both  nations  having  taken  proper  steps  to  that  end,  the 
act  of  union  took  place,  and  in  1845  Texas  became  a 
state  in  the  American  Union. 

As  Texas  was  actually  independent,  that  independ- 
ence carried  with  it  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
sovereignty,  and  she  was  as  capable  of  disposing  of 
herself  by  treaty  as  the  most  independent  nation  is  of 
transferring  to  another  power  any  part  of  its  territory. 

That  the  United  States,  in  its  sovereign  capacity, 
had   an   undoubted   right  to  enter  into    the  treaty    of 


2S  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

annexation,  notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  of 
.Mexico,  and  that  as  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico  all  this  furnished  no  just  ground  of  complaint 
on  the  part  of  the  latter  is  clearly  set  forth  in  Marten's 
Law  of  Nations,"  pp.  23-4:  "All  that  is  required  for 
a  state  or  nation  to  be  entirely  free  and  sovereign  is  that 
it  must  govern  itself  and  acknowledge  no  legislative 
superior  but  God.  If  it  be  totally  independent,  it  is 
sovereign;"  and  p.  79:  "A  foreign  nation  does  not 
appear  to  violate  its  perfect  obligations,  nor  to  deviate 
from  the  principles  of  neutrality,  if  it  treats  as  an  inde- 
pendent nation  people  who  have  declared  and  still 
maintain  themselves  independent." 

History  abounds  with  examples  in  which  revolted 
provinces  have  been  acknowledged  and  treated  as 
sovereign  states  by  other  nations,  long  before  they  were 
recognized  as  such  by  the  states  from  which  they  re- 
volted. Mexico  herself,  which  was  recognized  as  inde- 
pendent by  the  United  States  in  1821,  stood  in  the  view 
<>f  Spain  as  a  revolted  province  up  to  1836,  the  year  of 
Texan  independence,  when  the  fact  of  her  separate 
existence  as  a  nation  was  finally  assented  to  by  the 
Spanish  government.  Notwithstanding  these  legal 
maxims  and  facts  Mexico  by  her  minister  at  Washington, 
said,  "The  Mexican  government  is  resolved  to  declare 
war  as  soon  as  it  receives  intimation  of  such  an  act" — 
annexation  of  Texas.  The  annexation  being  consum- 
mated, it  became  the  right  and  duty  of  the  United 
States  t<>  provide  for  the  defense  of  her  new  frontier,  and 
ially  as  she  was  informed  that  Mexico  would  make 
war  upon  her.  The  cause  of  the  war  was  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas   and    not  the  entrance  of   General  Taylor 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  29 

upon  the  teiuitory  between  the  Nueces  and  the  Rio 
Grande  as  urged  by  some  historians. 

That  the  Rio  Grande  was  the  true  boundary  of  the 
newly  acquired  state  is  sustained  by  the  facts,  that  it  was 
so  set  forth  in  the  Texan  Declaration  of  Independence; 
that  it  was  sustained  by  the  success  of  the  revolution; 
that  it  was  so  confirmed  by  the  treaty  with  Santa  Anna, 
which  treaty  was  ratified  and  signed  by  Filsola,  then 
in  command  of  the  Northern  Mexican  army,  and  that 
Filsola  was  authorized  by  letter  from  the  Mexican 
president  ad  interim  to  do  whatever  should  be  necessary 
to  procure  the  release  of  Santa  Anna  and  to  save  his 
troops  and  munitions  of  war.  The  obligations  and 
benefits  of  that  treaty  were  mutual,  Texas  acquiring 
the  independence  of  all  the  territory  east  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  Mexico  saving  the  army  and  the  life  of  her 
president. 

That  Bustamente  who  succeeded  Santa  Anna  as 
president  repudiated  the  treaty,  cuts  no  more  figure 
than  would  similar  action  on  the  part  of  President  Diaz 
to-day.  The  threats  of  Mexico  to  declare  war,  the 
hostile  spirit  manifested  by  her  population  and  the 
actual  assembling  of  troops  with  the  title  "army  of  the 
North"  and  "army  of  invasion"  on  her  northern 
frontiers,  with  the  avowed  object  of  reconquering  the 
whole  of  Texas,  devolved  the  duty  upon  the  Vnited 
States  to  prepare  for  the  threatened  war  on  international 
principles  as  set  forth  by  the  above  quoted  author,  page 
273:  "If  a  sovereign  sees  himself  menaced  with  an 
attack,  he  may  take  up  arms  to  ward  off  the  blow,  and 
may  even  commence  the  exercise  of  those  violences 
that  his  enemy  is  preparing  to  exercise  against  him 
without  being  chargeable  with  having  begun  an  offen- 


3o  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

sive  war;"  and  page  369:  "The  justificative  reasons 
of  a  war  show  that  an  injury  has  been  received,  or  so 
far  threatened  as  to  authorize  a  prevention  of  it  by 
arras." 

It  has  been  charged  that  the  Anglo-American 
settlers  of  Texas  emigrated  to  that  country  with  the 
fraudulent  design  of  eventually  wresting  it  from  Mexico 
and  annexing  it  to  the  American  Union;  and  also  that 
the  United  States  countenanced  the  scheme  and  per- 
mitted armed  bands  from  the  states  to  join  the  Texan 
armies. 

Whatever  of  individual  wish  and  intention  maj^ 
have  existed  as  to  a  final  transfer  of  the  territory  of 
Texas  to  the  United  States  by  revolution  or  otherwise, 
certainjy  no  concerted  action  was  had  until-,  in  violation 
of  both  constitutional  and  statute  law,  and  of  personal 
rights  on  the  part  of  the  Mexican  government  against 
the  settlers,  a  necessity  was  laid  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  Texas  to  resort  to  the  last  right  to  whicji  oppressed 
people  are  by  nature  entitled — revolution:  and  when 
the  issues  were  made  up,  the  case  as  presented  to  the 
world  made  it  a  virtue  for  nations  possessed  of  common 
humanity  to  act  upon  international  law  as  presented  in 
Vattel's  "Law  of  Nations,"  page  218:  "When  a  people 
from  good  reasons  take  up  arms  against  an  oppressor, 
justice  and  generosity  require  that  brave  men  should  be 
assisted  in  the  defense  of  their  liberties.  When,  there- 
fore, a  civil  war  is  kindled  in  a  state,  foreign  powers 
may  assist  that  party  which  appears  to  them  to  have 
justice  on  its  side-."     Also  Marten's  "Law  of  Nations," 

e  80:     "Any   sovereign   prince  has  a  right  to  lend 

I  in.  e  to  the  party  whom  he  believes  to  have  justice 
on  his  side." 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  31 

There  are  no  facts,  however,  to  prove  that  the 
American  government  as  such  countenanced  the  revolu- 
tion, although  it  may  be  admitted  with  philanthropic 
pride  that  thousands  of  American  citizens  warmly 
sympathized  with  the  revolutionists,  and  as  individuals 
gave  them  much  aid  and  comfort.  They  aided  Texas 
as  they  had  before  aided  Mexico  in  her  just  revolution. 
But  the  government  sent  an  armed  force  to  the  Texan 
frontier  to  enforce  neutrality. 

During  her  time  of  independent  national  existence 
the  office  of  chief  magistrate  of  Texas  was  held  as  fol- 
lows: David  Burnett  appointed  provisional  president 
in  1836.  Sam  Houston  president  from  1S36  to  1S38. 
Mirabeau  B.  Lamar  from  1838  to  1840.  David  Burnett 
from  1840  to  1842.  Sam  Houston  from  1842  to  1844. 
Anson  Jones  from  1S44  to  date  of  annexation  to  the 
United  States. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Mexican  War. — 1845  to  1847. 

Mexico  Inaugurates  War — General  Taylor  Com- 
mands the  American  Army — Marches  to  the 
Rio  Grande — Hostilities — Battles  of  Palo 
Ai/ro  and  Resaca  de  la  Palm  a — Call  for  Vol- 
unteers— Monterey  Surrenders — Santa  Fe 
Captured — California  Occupied —  Chihuahua 
Captured — General  Winfield  Scott  and  Plan 
of  Campaign — Victory  at  Buena  VIsta. 

IN  ACCORDANCE  with  the  warlike  policy  of  Mexico, 
Mr.  Almonte,  the  Mexican  minister  at  Washington, 

immediately  after  the  resolution  of  annexation  had 
passed  the  American  congres's,  protested  against  the 
measure  which  he  declared  Mexico  would  regard  as  an 
act  of  warlike  aggression  to  be  resisted  by  all  means 
within  her  power,  demanded  liis  passports  .and  returned 
home. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  i's45,  Texas  assented  to  the 
terms  of  the  resolution  of  annexation;  and  expecting 
that  Mexico  would  carry  her  threats  of  war  into  execu- 
tion, requested  the  president  of  the  United  States  to 
occupy  the  ports  of  Texas  and  send  an  army  to  the  de- 
of  her  territory.  Accordingly,  an  American 
squadron  was  sent  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  and  General 
Taylor  then  in  command  at  Campjessup,  in  the  western 
part  of  Louisiana,  was  ordered  to  the  southern  part  of 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  33 

Texas.  By  the  advice  of  the  Texan  authorities  he 
located  at  Corpus  Christi,  where  by  the  beginning  of 
August  he  had  an  army  of  about  4,000  men. 

On  the  13th  of  January,  1846,  when  it  was  believed 
that  the  Mexicans  were  assembling  troops  on  their 
northern  frontiers  with  the  avowed  object  of  re-conquer- 
ing Texas,  and  when  such  information  had  been  re- 
ceived from  Mexico  as  rendered  it  probable,  if  not 
certain,  that  she  would  refuse  to  receive  Mr.  Slidell,  the 
envoy,  whom  the  United  States  had  sent  to  negotiate  a 
settlement  of  the  difficulties  between  the  two  countries, 
General  Taylor  was  ordered  to  advance  his  forces  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  the  southern  and  the  western  boundary  of 
Texas. 

Aside  from  the  acts  specified  there  already  existed 
serious  causes  for  complaints,  and  in  his  message  to 
congress  in  1837,  President  Jackson  declared  that  they 
would  justify,  in  the  eyes  of  all  nations,  immediate  war. 

Kver  since  Mexico  had  been  a  republic  she  had 
proved  to  be  a  despoiling  and  unjust  neighbor.  Civil 
wars  had  impoverished  her  treasury  and  her  authorities 
had  replenished  it  by  confiscating  the  property  of 
Americans  upon  land  and  in  the  gulf  of  Mexico. 

After  continued  remonstrance  for  years  a  treaty  was 
entered  into  in  1831,  adjustment  for  damages  agreed 
upon- and  promises  made  for  payment.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  agressions  continued,  and  in  i84othe  aggregate 
amount  of  American  property  which  had  been  unlaw 
fully  seized  by  Mexicans,  was  more  than  six  millions  of 
dollars. 

Eighteen  changes  had  taken  place  in  Mexico  in  the 
office  of  chief  magistrate,  impoverishment  and  dis- 
honesty had  delayed  payment  and  administrations  were 


34  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

unwilling  to  assume  obligations  of  their  overthrown 
predecessors,  and  so  the  claims  remained  unsettled 
when  the  annexation  of  Texas  took  place  and  peaceful 
relations  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  were 
suspended  by  act  of  the  Mexican  administration. 

On  the  8th  of  March  the  advance  column  of  the 
army  under  General  Twiggs  was  put  in  motion,  and  on 
the  28th  of  the  same  month  General  Taylor,  after  having 
established  a  depot  at^Point  Isabel,  twenty-one  miles  in 
his  rear,  took  his  position  on  the  northern  bank  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  where  he  hastily  erected  a  fortress  called 
Port  Brown,  v.  ilhiu  cannon  shot  of  Matamoras. 

On  the  26th  of  April  the  Mexican  general,  Ampudia, 
gave  notice  to  General  Taylor  that  he  considered  hostili- 
ties commence  d  and  should  prosecute  them,  and  on  the 
same  day  a  company  of  American  dragoons  commanded 
by  Captain    Thornton,  was    attacked    while    making  a 

nnoisance  thirty  miles  above  Fort  Brown,  on  the 
American  side  of  the  Rio  Grande,  when  sixteen  were 
killed  and  wounded  and  the  remainder  were  captured. 
This  was  the  commencement  of  actual  hostilities — the 
first  blood  shed  in  the  war,  although  Colonel  Trueman 
.  1  I'  the  quartermaster  department,  had  been  mur- 

■1  a  few  days  before  by  a  party  of  Mexican  guer- 
rillas. 

The  movements  of  the  enemy,  wdio  had  crossed  the 

river  above    Matamoras,  seeming  to  be  directed   toward 

an  rrfiack  on  Point  Isabel  to  cut  off  the  Americans  from 

base  oi   supplies,  caused   General   Taylor  to  move 

to  that  pla<  e  on  the  1st  of  May  with  his  principal  force, 

ing  a  small  command  to  defend  Fort  Brown.    After 

having  garrisoned  the  depot,  on  the  7th  of  May  General 

'  <  i:1  on  his  return.     At  noon  the  next  day  the 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  35 

Mexican  army,  numbering  about  6,000  men,  with  seven 
pieces  of  artillery  was  discovered  nenr  Palo  Alto,  drawn 
up  in  battle  array  across  the  prairie  through  which  the 
advance  led.  The  Americans,  only  2,300  in  number, 
advanced  to  the  encounter,  and  after  an  action  of  about 
five  hours,  which  was  sustained  mostly  by  the  artillery, 
drove  the  enemy  from  their  position  and  encamped  upon 
the  field  of  battle.  The  Mexican  loss  was  about  100 
killed,  that  of  the  Americans  but  four  killed  and  forty 
wounded,  but  among  those  mortally  wounded  was  the 
distinguished  Major  Ringgold  of  the  artillery. 

At  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day  the 
American  army  again  advanced,  and  after  a  inarch  ■  of 
two  hours  came  up  with  the  enemy,  who  had  taken  a 
strong  position  in  a  ravine  called  the  Resaca  de  la 
Palma,  three  miles  from  Fort  Brown.  The  action  was 
commenced  on  both  sides  by  the  artillery,  but  the  Mexi- 
can guns  commanded  by  General  La  Vega  were  in  a 
better  position  for  effectiveness  than  at  Palo  Alto,  and 
their  fire  was  very  severe.  An  order  to  dislodge  them 
was  gallantly  executed  by  Captain  May  at  the  head  of 
a  squadron  of  dragoons  which,  charging  through  a 
storm  of  grape  shot,  broke  the  ranks  of  the  enemy, 
killed  or  dispersed  the  Mexican  artillerymen  and  took 
General  L,a  Vega  prisoner.  The  charge  was  supported 
by  the  infantry,  the  whole  Mexican  line  was  routed  and 
the  enemy  fled  in  confusion,  abandoning  their  guns  and 
a  quantity  of  ammunition;  and  when  night  closed  in 
over  the  scene  not  an  armed  Mexican  was  to  be  found 
north  of  the  Rio  Grande.  The  next  day  the  army  took 
up  its  former  position  at  Fort  Brown,  which  had  sus- 
tained with  little  loss  an  almost  uninterrupted  bombard- 
ment of  seven  davs  from  the  Mexican  batteries  in  Mata- 


36  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

moras;  nevertheless,  the  army  mourned  the  death  of 
Major  Brown,  its  gallant  defending  commander. 

The  news  of  these  encounters  produced  the  greatest 
excitement  throughout  the  Union;  it  wTas  not  doubted 
that  Mexico  would  receive  a  severe  chastisement  and  a 
war  spirit,  unknown  before  to  exist,  heralded  in  antici- 
pation a  series  of  victories  and  conquests,  terminating 
only  in  the  "Halls  of  the  Montezumas."  The  presi- 
dent in  a  message  to  congress  declared  that  "Mexico 
had  invaded  our  territory  and  shed  the  blood  of  our 
fellow-citizens  on  our  own  soil,"  and  congress  adopting 
the  spirit  of  the  message,  after  declaring  that  war  ex- 
isted "by  act  of  the  republic  of  Mexico,"  authorized 
the  president  to  accept  the  services  of  50,000  volunteers 
and  placed  $ro,ooo,ooo  at  his  disposal. 

The  call   for  volunteers   was   responded  to  by  the 

prompt  tender  of  the  services  of  more  than  300,000  men, 

.vho  seemed   to    anticipate    a  march   to   the    Mexican 

apital  in  the   ranks  of  a  conquering    army,  but  as  a 

j  leasant  pastime  or  a  holiday  excursion 

Most  of  the  summer  of  1846  was  occupied  by  the 
government  in  preparations  for  the  invasion  of  Mexico 
from  several  directions  at  the  same  time.  A  force  of 
about  23,000  men  was  sent  into  the  field,  the  largest 
part  of  which,  placed  under  the  command  of  General 
Taylor,  was  to  advance  from  Matamoras  into  the 
enemy's  country  in  the  direction  of  Monterey.  General 
Wool,  at  the  head  of  about  3,000  men,  concentrated  at 
San  Antonio  de  Bexar,  was  to  march  upon  Chihuahua, 
while  General  Kearney  with  a  force  of  about  1,700  men 
■  inarch  from  Port  Leavenworth  upon  Santa  Fe, 
tli'-  1  apital  of  NV\y  Mexico. 

The   difficulty    attending  the   removal  of  supplies 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR. 


37 


from  New  Orleans  which  was  his  base,  made  it  im- 
possible for  General  Taylor  to  commence  operations 
actively  until  the  latter  part  of  August.  But  with  his 
accustomed  energy  he  appeared  on  the  19th  of  Septem- 
ber before  Monterey  with  6,600  men,  having  garrisoned 
his   line  of  communications.      Monterey,  the  capital  of 


General,  Taylor. 


New  Leon,  was  a  city  of  about  15,000  inhabitants, 
strong  in  its  natural  defenses  and  garrisoned  by  about 
10,000  troops,  regular  and  irregular,  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Ampudia. 

On  the   morning  of  the    21st  the  attack   was  com- 


38  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

menced,  which  was  continued  with  great  spirit  during 
the  day,  with  the  important  results  of  getting  possession 
of  the  enemy's  line  of  retreat  and  the  capture  of  two 
strong  forts  in  the  rear  of  the  city.  The  assault  was 
continued  the  next  day,  when  the  bishop's  palace,  a 
strong  position  and  the  only  remaining  fortified  height 
in  the  rear  ci  the  town,  was  gallantly  carried  by  the 
troops  under  General  Worth,  who  was  in  command  of 
operations  in  the  rear  of  the  city.  On  the  morning  of 
the  23d  the  lower  part  of  the  city  was  stormed  by  Gen- 
eral Quitman,  the  troops  slowly  advancing  by  digging 
through  the  adobe  and  stone  walls  of  the  houses. 

In  the  same  manner  General  Worth's  troops  ap- 
proached the  center,  and  by  night  the  enemy  was  con- 
lined  chiefly  to  the  plaza  or  central  square  of  the  city 
and  to  the  citadel,  a  strong  and  scientifically  constructed 
work  on  the  north  of  the  place.  Early  on  the  morning 
of  the  24th  the  Mexican  general  submitted  propositions 
which  resulted  in  the  surrender  and  evacuation  of 
Monterey  and  an  armistice  of  eight  weeks,  or  until  in- 
structions should  be  received  from  either  of  the  re- 
spective  governments. 

In  obedience  to  orders  received  from  Washington, 
General  Taylor  on  the  iithof  November  gave  notice  to 
the  Mexican  general  that  hostilities  would  be  renewed 
on  tlie  i.Uli  instant,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  month 
Saltillo,  tin-  capital  of  the  state  of  Coahuila,  was  occu- 
py the  division  of  General  Worth.  Late  in  Decein- 
Deneral  Patterson  took  possession  of  Victoria,  the 
capital  of  Tamaulipas,  while  about  the  same  time  the 
port  of  Tampico  was  captured  by  Commodore  Perry. 

In  the  meantime  General  Wool,  after  crossing  the 
Rio  Grande,  finding    his  march  to  Chihuahua  in  that 


AND  MEXICAX  WAR. 


39 


direction,  impeded  by  the  loft}'  and  unbroken  range  of 
the  Sierra  Madre,  had  turned  south  and  joined  General 
Worth  at  Saltillo;  while  General  Kearney,  somewhat 
earlier  in  the  season,  after  having  performed  a  march  of 
nearly  1,000  miles  across  the  wilderness,  had  made 
himself  master  of  Santa  Fe  and  all  of  New  Mexico  with- 
out opposition.  After  General  Kearney  had  established 
a  new  government  in  New  Mexico,  on  the  25th  of 
September  he  departed  from  Santa  Fe,  at  the  head  of 
400  dragoons,  for  the  California  settlements  of  Mexico, 
bordering  on  the  Pacific  ocean.  But  after  having  pro- 
ceeded 300  miles  and  learning  that  California  was 
already  in  the  hands  of  the  Americans,  he  sent  back  all 
of  his  force  but  100  men  and  pursued  his  way  across  the 
continent. 

In  the  early  part  of  December  a  part  of  General 
Kearney's  command  that  had  marched  with  him  from 
the  east,  set  out  from  Santa  Fe  on  a  southern  expedi- 
tion, expecting  to  form  a  junction  with  General  Wool 
at  Chihuahua.  This  force,  numbering  about  900  men, 
was  commanded  by  General  Doniphan,  and  its  march 
of  more  than  1,000  miles  through  an  enemy's  country, 
from  Santa  Fe  to  Saltillo,  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
achievements  of  the  war.  During  the  march  this  com- 
mand fought  two  battles  against  vastly  superior  forces, 
and  in  each  defeated  the  enemy.  The  battle  of  Bracito, 
fought  on  Christmas  day,  opened  an  entrance  into  the 
town  of  El  Paso,  while  that  of  the  Sacremento,  fought 
on  the  2.Sth  of  February,  1S47,  secured  the  surrender  of 
Chihuahua,  a  city  of  great  wealth,  and  containing  more 
than  40,000  inhabitants. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  on  the  eastern 
borders  of  the  republic,  the    Pacific  coast  had  become 


4o  HISTl  )RY  OF  TEXAS 

the  scene  of  military  operations,  less  brilliant,  but  more 
important  in  their  results.  In  the  early  part  of  June, 
1846,  Captain  Fremont,  of  the  topographical  engineers, 
while  engaged  at  the  head  of  about  sixty  men  in  explor- 
ing a  southern  route  to  Oregon,  having  been  first 
threatened  with  an  attack  by  De  Castro,  the  Mexican 
governor  on  the  California  coast,  and  learning  after- 
wards that  the  governor  was  preparing  an  expedition 
against  the  American  settlers  near  San  Francisco,  raised 
the  standard  of  opposition  to  the  Mexican  government 
in  California. 

After  having  defeated  in  various  engagements 
several  greatly  superior  Mexican  forces,  on  the  4th  of 
July  Fremont  and  his  companions  declared  the  iude- 
pendence  af  California.  A  few  days  later  Commodore 
Sloat,  having  previously  been  informed  of  the  com- 
mencement of  hostilities  on  the  Rio  Grande,  hoisted  the 
American  flag  at  Monterey.  In  the  latter  part  of  July 
Commodore  Stockton  assumed  the  command  of  the 
Pacific  squadron,  soon  after  which  he  took  possession 
of  San  Diego,  and  in  conjunction  with  Fremont  entered 
the  city  of  Los  Angeles  without  opposition;  and  on  the 
■  1  of  August,  1846,  the  whole  of  California  was  in  the 
undisputed  military  possession  of  the  United  States.    In 

mber  following,  soon  alter  the  arrival  of  General 
Kearney  from  his  overland  expedition,  the  Mexican 
inhabitants  of  California  attempted  to  regain  possession 
of  the  government,  but  the   insurrection  was  soon  sup- 

■  '1. 

It  lias  been  stated  heretofore  that  after  the  close  of 
the  armistice  which  succeeded  the  capture  of  Monterey, 
ili'-  American  troops  under  General  Taylor  spread  them- 
selves over  Coahuila   and  Tamaulipas.     In  the  mean- 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  41 

time  the  plan  of  an  attack  on  Vera  Cruz,  the  principal 
Mexican  port  on  the  gulf,  had  been  matured  at  Wash- 
ington,.and  General  Scott  was  sent  out  to  take  complete 
command  of  the  army  in  Mexico.  By  the  withdrawal 
of* most  of  the  regulars  under  General  Taylor's  com- 
mand for  the  attack  on  Vera  Cruz,  the  entire  force  of 
the  Northern  American  army,  extending  from  Mata- 
moras  to  Monterey  and  Saltillo,  was  reduced  to  about 
10,000  volunteers  and  a  few  companies  of  the  regular 
artillery  and  cavalry,  while  at  the  same  time  the  Mexi- 
can general,  Santa  Anna,  was  known  to  be  at  San  Luis 
Potosi,  at  the  head  of  22,000  of  the  best  troops  in  Mexico, 
prepared  to  oppose  the  further  progress  of  General 
Taylor  or  to  advance  upon  him  in  his  own  quarters. 

In  the  early  part  of  February,  1847,  General  Taylor, 
alter  leaving  adequate  garrisons  in  Monterey  and  Sal- 
tillo, proceeded  with  about  5,000  men  to  Agua  Nueva, 
where  he  remained  until  the  21st  of  the  month,  when 
the  advance  of  Santa  Anna,  with  his  whole  army,  in- 
duced him  to  fall  back  to  Buena  Vista,  a  very  strong 
position  a  few  miles  in  advance  of  Saltillo.  Here  the 
road  runs  north  and  south  through  a  narrow  defile, 
skirted  on  the  west  by  impassable  gullies,  and  on  the 
east  by  a  succession  of  rugged  ridges  and  precipitous 
ravines  which  extend  back  nearly  to  the  mountains.  On 
the  elevated  plateau  or  table-land  formed  by  the  con- 
centration of  these  ridges,  General  Taylor  drew  up  his 
little  army,  numbering  in  all  4,759  men,  of  whom 
only  453  were  regular  troops;  and  here  on  the  22d  of 
February  he  was  confronted  by  the  entire  Mexican 
army,  then  numbering,  according  to  Santa  Anna's 
official  report,  about   17,000  men,  but  stated  by  him  in 


4  j  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

his  demand   for  the  surrender  of  the  Americans  to  be 
20,000. 

On  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  the  23d  of  Febru- 
ary, the  enemy  began  the  attack  with  great  impetuosity; 
but  the  resistance  was  as  determined  as  the  assault,  and 
after  a  hard  fought  battle,  which  was  continued  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  day,  the  Mexican  force  was  driven 
in  disorder  from  the  field,  with  a  loss  of  more  than  1,500 
men.  The  American  loss  in  killed,  wounded  and  miss- 
ing was  746.  Among  these  twenty-eight  officers  were 
killed  on  the  field.  This  important  victory  broke  up 
the  army  of  vSanta  Anna,  and  by  effectually  securing 
the  frontier  of  the  Rio  Grande,  allowed  the  Americans 
to  turn  their  whole  attention  and  strength  to  the  great 
gnterprise  of  the  campaign,  the  capture  <  f  Vera  Cruz 
uid  the  march  thence  to  the  Mexican  capital. 


CHAPTKR  V. 


1848. 

Scott  Captures  Vera  Cruz  —  Battle  of  Cerro 
Gordo — Perote  Surrenders — Puebla  Occupied 
— Depletion  of  Army — Re-enforced — "On,  ' '  to 
Mexico — First  View  of  City — Detour  to  Solid 
Ground — Battles  of  Contreras  and  Churubus- 
co — Armistice — Fruitless  Efforts  for  Peace — 
Battle  of  Molino  del  Rey — Storming  of  Cha- 
pultepec — The  City  Occupied — Peace — Num- 
bers of  Army  and  Navy — Losses — Bivouac  of 
the  Dead. 

ON  THE  9th  of  March,  1S47,  General  Winfield 
Scott,  in  command  of  an  army  of  12,000  men, 
landed  without  opposition  a  short  distance  south 
of  Vera  Cruz  in  full  view  of  the  city  and  the  renowned 
castle  of  San  Juan  d'Ulua.  On  the  12th  the  investment 
of  the  city  was  completed;  on  the  18th  the  trenches  were 
opened,  and  on  the  22d  the  first  batteries  began  their 
fire  at  the  distance  of  800  yards  from  the  city.  From  the 
22d  until  the  morning  of  the  26th  almost  one  continued 
roar  of  artillery  prevailed,  the  city  and  castle  batteries 
answering  to  those  of  the  besiegers,  and  the  shells  and 
shot  were  rained  upon  the  devoted  town  with  terrible 
activity,  and  with  an  awful  destruction  of  life  and  prop- 
erty. At  length,  just  as  arrangements  had  been  made 
for  an  assault,  the  governor  of  the  city  made  overtures 
for  surrender.     On  the  night  of  the  27th  the  articles  ot 


44  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

capitulation  were  signed,  and  on  the  29th  the  American 
flag  was  unfurled  over  the  walls  of  the  city  and  castle. 

The  way  was  now  open  for  the  march  towards  the 
Mexican  capital,  and  on  the  8th  of  April  General 
Twiggs  was  sent  forward,  leading  the  advance,  on  the 
Jalapa  road.  But  Santa  Anna,  although  defeated  at 
Bueua  Vista,  had  raised  another  army,  and  with  12,000 
men  had  strongly  intrenched  himself  on  the  heights  of 
Cerro  Gordo,  which  completely  commanded  the  only 
road  which  leads  through  the  mountains  into  the  in- 
terior. General  Twiggs  reached  this  position  on  the 
1 2th,  but  it  was  not  until  the  morning  of  the  18th,  when 
the  commander-in-chief  and  the  whole  army  had  arrived, 
that  the  daring  assault  was  made.  Before  noon  of  that 
day  every  position  of  the  enemy  had  been  stormed  in 
succession,  and  3,000  prisoners  had  been  taken,  together 
with  forty  pieces  of  bronze  artillery,  5,000 stand  of  arms, 
with  other  munitions  and  materials  of  war. 

On  the  day  following  the  battle  the  army  entered 
Jalapa,  and  on  the  22d  the  strong  castle  of  Perote  sur- 
rendered without  resistance  with  its  vast  armament  and 
munitions  of  war.  On  the  15th  of  May  the  advance 
under  General  Worth  entered  the  ancient  and  renowned 
city  of  Puebla;  an^  when  the  entire  army  had  been 
concentrated  there,  in  the  very  heart  of  Mexico,  so 
greatly  had  it  been  reduced  by  sickness,  deaths,  and  the 
expiration  of  terms  in  the  volunteer  service,  that  it  was 
found  to  number  only  5,000  effective  men.  With  this 
small  force  it  was  impossible  to  keep  open  a  communi- 
cation  with  Vera  Cm/.,  and  the  army  was  left  for  a  time 
to  its  own  resources,  until  the  arrival  of  supplies  and  re- 
enforcements  enabled  it  to  march  upon  the  Mexican 
capital. 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  45 

At  length,  on  the  7th  of  August,  General  Scott, 
having  increased  his  effective  force  to  nearly  11,000 
men,  in  addition  to  a  moderate  garrison  left  at  Puebla, 
commenced  his  inarch  from  the  latter  place  to  the  capi- 
tal of  the  republic.  On  the  third  day  of  their  march 
they  reached  the  pass  of  Rio  Frio,  forty-five  miles  dis- 
tant from  theCity  of  Mexico.  This  was  the  highest  point 
of  their  line  of  march,  being  10,120  feet  above  the  ocean. 
At  this  point  the  army  had  anticipated  resistance,  and 
indeed  some  defensive  works  had  been  commenced. 
But  their  abandonment  left  the  road  to  the  capital  un- 
obstructed. 

A  march  of  a  few  miles  further  and  the  army  passed 
over  the  highest  crest  of  the  mountains;  and  one  of  the 
most  splendid  scenes  of  the  world  opened  upon  the  eyes 
of  the  weary  soldiers.  The  whole  vast  plain  of  Mexico 
was  before  them.  The  coldness  of  the  air,  their  fatigue 
and  danger  were  forgotten ,  and  their  eyes  were  the  only 
sense  that  had  enjoyment.  Mexico  with  its  lofty  towers 
and  superabundance  of  domes,  its  bright  reality  and  its 
former  fame,  its  modern  splendor  and  its  ancient  mag- 
nificence, was  before  them;  while  around  on  every  side 
its  multitude  of  lakes  seemed  like  silver  stars  embla- 
zoned upon  a  velvet  mantle.  On  the  1  ith  the  advanced 
division  under  General  Twiggs  reached  Ayotla  fifteen 
miles  from  the  city. 

A  direct  march  to  the  capital  by  the  national  road 
had  been  contemplated,  but  the  route  in  that  direction 
presented,  from  the  nature  of  the  ground  and  the 
strength  of  the  fortifications,  almost  insurmountable  dif- 
ficulties; and  an  approach  by  way  of  Chalco  and  San 
Augustin,  by  passing  around  Lakes  Chalco  and  Xochi- 
.milco,  to  the  south,  was  thought  more  practicable,  and 


46  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

on  the  iSth  the  entire  army  had  succeeded  in  reaching 
San  Augustin,  ten  miles  south  of  the  city,  where 
arrangements  were  made  for  final  operations. 

The  City  of  Mexico,  situated  near  the  western  bank 
of  Lake  Texcoco  and  surrounded  by  numerous  canals 
and  ditches,  could  be  approached  only  by  long,  narrow 
causeways  leading  over  impassable  marshes,  while  the 
gates  to  which  they  conducted  were  strongly  fortified. 
Beyond  the  causeways,  commanding  the  outer  ap- 
proaches to  the  city,  were  the  strongly  fortified  posts  of 
Chapultepec  and  Churubusco  and  the  batteries  ot  Con- 
treras  and  San  Antonio,  armed  with  nearly  ioo  cannon 
and  surrounded  by  grounds  either  marshy  or  so  covered 
by  volcanic  rocks  that  they  were  thought  by  the  enemy 
entirely  impracticable  for  military  operations. 

Seven  thousand  Mexican  troops  under  General 
Valencia  held  the  exterior  defense  of  Contreras,  whilJ 
Santa  Anna  had  a  force  of  nearly  25,000  men  in  the  rear, 
pepared  to  lend  his  aid  where  most  needed.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  19th  some  fighting  occurred  in  the 
vicinity  of  Contreras;  and  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
next  day  the  batteries  of  that  strong  position  were 
carried  by  an  impetuous  assault,  which  lasted  only 
seventeen  minutes.   In  this  short  space  of  time  less  than 

•  American  troops  had  captured  the  most  formidable 
entrenchments,  within  which  were  posted  7,000  Mexi- 
cans. The  post  of  San  Antonio  being  flanked  and  un- 
supported  was  evacuated  by  its  garrison,  which  was 
terribly  cut  up  in  the  retreat. 

The  fortified  post  of  Churubusco,  about  four  miles 
northeast  from  the  heights  of  Contreras,  was  the  next 
point  of  attack.  Here  nearly  the  entire  army  of  the 
enemy  was  now  concentrated,  and  here  the  great  battle 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR. 


47 


of  the  day  was  fought;  but  on  every  part  of  the  field  the 
Americans  were  victorious,  and  the  entire  Mexican 
force  was  driven  back  upon  the  city,  and  upon  the  only 
remaining  fortress  of  Chapultepee.  Thus  ended  the 
battles  of  the  memorable  20th  of  August,  in  which  9,000 


General,  Scott. 


Americans,  assailing    strongly   fortified  positions,   had 
vanquished  an  army  cf  30,000  Mexicans. 

On  the  morning  cf  the  21st  while  General  Scott  was 
about  to  take  up  battering  positions,  preparatory  tc 
summoning  the  city  to  surrender,  he  received  froi.'.  the 
enemy  propositions  which  terminated  in  the  conclusion 


48  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

of  an  armistice  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  a  peace. 
With  surprising  infatuation  the  enemy  demanded  terms 
that  were  due  only  to  conquerors;  and  on  the  7th  of 
September  hostilities  were  recommenced.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  8th  the  Molino  del  Rey,  or  "King's  Mill," 
and  the  Casa  de  Meta,  the  principal  outer  defenses  of 
the  fortress  of  Chapultepec,  were  stormed  and  carried 
by  General  Worth  after  a  desperate  assault,  in  which  he 
lost  one-fourth  of  his  entire  force. 

The  reduction  of  the  castle  of  Chapultepec  itself, 
situated  on  an  abrupt,  rocky  height  150  feet  above  the 
surrounding  grounds,  was  a  still  more  formidable  under- 
lain ing.  Several  batteries  were  opened  against  this 
position  on  the  12th,  and  on  the  13th  the  citadel  and  all 
its  outworks  were  carried  by  storm;  but  not  without 
very  heavy  loss  to  the  American  army.  The  battle  was 
continued  during  the  day  on  the  lines  of  thegreat  cause- 
ways before  mentioned;  and  when  night  suspended  the 
dreadful  conflict  one  division  of  the  American  army 
rested  in  the  suburbs  of  Mexico  and  another  was  actu- 
ally within  the  gates  of  the  city. 

inning  the  night  which  followed  the  army  of  Santa 
Anna  and  the  officers  of  the  national  government  aban- 
doned  the  city,  and  at  7  o'clock  on  the  following  morn- 
ing  the  American  flag  was  proudly  floating  to  the  breeze 
above  the  walls  of  the  national  palace  of  Mexico.  The 
American  army  had  reached  its  destination.  Our  sol- 
diers had  gained  the  objects  of  their  toils  and  sufferings; 
and,  as  the  fruit  of  many  victories,  were  at  last  permitted 
to  repose  on  their  laurels,  in  the  far-famed  "Halls  of 
the  Montezumas." 

Thu  1  M'     ico,  the  capital  of  the  ancient  Aztecs,  the 

ol   the  Spanish-American  empire  in  America,  had 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  49 

passed  from  Aztec  and  from  Spaniard  to  the  "Anglo- 
American,  the  bold,  hardy,  energetic,  ingenious,  invin- 
cible, ambitious  and  adventurous  being,  whose  genius 
the  forms  of  civilization  cannot  confine,  and  to  whose 
dominion  continents  are  inadequate. 

In  what  hour  of  time  or  limit  of  space  shall  this 
man  of  the  moderns,  this  conqueror  over  land  and  seas, 
nations  and  governments,  find  rest  in  the  completion  of 
his  mighty  progress?  Commencing  his  march  in  the 
cold  regions  of  Scandinavia;  no  ice  chilled  his  blood,  no 
wilderness  delayed  his  footsteps,  no  labor  wearied  his 
industry,  no  arms  arrested  his  march,  no  empire  sub- 
dued his  power.  Over  armies  and  over  empires,  over 
lauds  and  over  seas,  in  heat  and  cold,  and  wilderness 
and  flood,  amidst  the  desolations  of  death  and  the 
decays  of  disease,  this  north-man  has  moved  on  in 
might  and  majesty,  steady  as  the  footsteps  of  time,  and 
fixed  as  the  decrees  of  fate. 

How  singular,  how  romantically  strange  is  this, — 
his  wild  adventure  and  marvelous  conquest  in  the  valley 
of  valleys!  How  came  the  north-man  and  the  Moorish 
Celt  here  to  meet  and  here  to  battle,  in  this  great  Mexi- 
can valley?  Look  at  it!  Inquire!  Ask  yourself  how 
came  they  here!  Are  they  the  citizens  by  nature  of  this 
continent?  Are  the}'  the  aborigines  of  these  wild  and 
wonderful  forests?  Never!  How  came  they  then  to  be 
contending  for  the  lands  and  groves  of  those  whose 
children  they  are  not? 

In  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  Hernando 
Cortez  landed  on  the  coast;  and  at  the  head  of  Spanish 
troops  marched  on  to  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  over 
whose  effeminate  inhabitants  the  Spaniard  for  more 
than    three  centuries  held   undivided   dominion.      Not 


5o  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

many  years  after  the  Anglo  Saxon  landed  on  the  coasts 
of  the  northern  Atlantic.  He,  too,  marched  on  to  con- 
quest. The  native  citizens  of  the  forest  disappeared  be- 
fore him.  Forests,  mountains  and  Indians  were  ineffectual 
to  oppose  him.  From  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  tot  lie 
Sabine  he  is  conqueror  over  nature  and  native.  In  the 
south  the  natives  die  or  become  slaves  to  the  Spaniard. 
In  the  north  they  fade  and  perish  before  the  Anglo- 
American. 

The  one  spreads  his  empire  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  the  far  shores  of  California;  the  other  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  mountains  and  western  coast  of  Oregon. 
Bach  extends  over  breadths  of  land  and  power  of  re- 
sources unknown  to  the  empires  of  antiquity.  Eygpt 
and  her  millions,  with  the  famed  valley  of  the  Nile,  fade 
before  the  broad  magnificence,  the  mighty  growth  cf 
these  American  empires.  Even  the  terrible  and  far-see- 
ing eagles  of  Rome  grow  dizzy  and  dim  in  their  sight, 
as  they  look  down  from  the  summits  of  history  upon 
these  continental  nations — these  colossal  giants  of  the 
modern  world. 

And  now  this  Spaniard  and  this  north-man  meet,  in 
battle  panoply,  in  this  valley  of  volcanoes,  by  the  an- 
cient graves  of  unknown  nations,  on  the  lava-covered 
soil  wluic  nature  once  poured  forth  her  awe-inspiring 
nanus,  and  the  brave  A/tecan  once  sung  of  glory  and  of 

tness.  Three  centuries  since  these  warrior  nations 
had  left  their  homes  beyond  the  wide  Atlantic.  Two 
thousand  miles  from  each  other  they  planted  the  seats 
of  their  empire;  and  now,  as  if  time  in  the  moral  world 
had  complt  ted  another  of  its  grand  revolutions,  they 
mel  in  mortal  conflict.  Like  the  EAGLE  and  the 
•.  '  i.i  i  ii,  who  had    long  pursued  different  circles  in  the 


AND  MEXICA  V  WAR.  51 

heavens,  and  long  made  prey  of  the  weak  tenants  of  the 
air,  their  circles  have  been  enlarged  until  they  cross 
each  other.  They  meet;  they  shriek;  they  fight.  The 
victorious  eagle  bears  the  vulture  to  the  earth  and 
screams  forth  through  the  clouds  his  triumphant  song 
of  victory. 

The  conquest  of  the  Mexican  capital  was  the  finish- 
ing stroke  of  the  war;  and  on  the  2d  of  February  follow- 
ing the  terms  of  a  treaty  of  peace  were  concluded  upon 
by  the  American  commissioner  and  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment. This  treaty,  after  having  received  some  modifi- 
cations from  the  American  senate,  was  adopted  by  that 
body  on  the  10th  of  March,  and  subsequently  ratified  by 
the  Mexican  congress  on  the  30th  of  May  of  the  same 
year. 

The  most  important  provisions  of  the  treaty  were 
those  by  which  the  United  States  obtained  a  large  in- 
crease of  territory,  embracing  that  which  was  then 
known  as  New  Mexico  and  Upper  California.  The 
boundary  between  the  two  countries  was  fixed  in  the 
center  of  the  Rio  Grande,  up  that  stream  to  the  southern 
boundary  of  New  Mexico,  thence  westward,  within  pre- 
scribed limits,  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  The  free  navigation 
of  the  Gulf  of  California  and  of  the  River  Colorado  was 
guaranteed  to  the  United  States. 

For  the  territory  and  privileges  thus  obtained  the 
United  States  surrendered  to  Mexico  "all  castles,  forts, 
territories,  places  and  possessions"  not  embraced  in  the 
ceded  territories,  agreed  to  pay  Mexico  $15,000,000  and 
to  assume  the  liquidation  of  all  debts  due  American  citi- 
zens from  the  Mexican  government. 

The  land  thus  acquired  was  within  a  fraction  of 
750,000  square  miles,  which  was  thereby  removed  from 


52  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 

the  policies  and  influences  of  Mexico  and  placed  under 
those  of  the  most  liberal,  free,  progressive  and  happy 
government  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

Who  can  assert  that  the  establishing  of  American 
policies  and  principles  firmly  in  Texas,  and  extending 
and  maintaining  them  over  New  Mexico,  Utah,  Nevada, 
part  of  Colorado  and  all  of  California,  has  not  minis 
tered  to  the  welfare  of  mankind?  What  if  they  werr 
still  under  control  of  Mexico,  or  had  passed  to  the 
dominion  of  any  other  nation,  who  could  and  would 
have  limited  the  glorious  destiny  and  beneficent  in- 
fluence of  our  own  country? 

When  America  shall  canonize  her  political  saints, 
whose  administrations  and  personal  actions  have 
brought  glory,  honor  and  profit  to  the  commonwealth, 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  his  agents  in  France  who  oppor- 
tunely secured  Louisiana  will  not  deserve  more  brilliant 
crowns  than  will  James  K.  Polk  and  his  armed  allies 
ulio  secured  Texas,  New  Mexico  and  California,  upon 
which  England  had  fixed  a  covetous  eye,  and  for  the 
loss  i if  which  she  exacted  better  terms  from  the  United 
States  in  the  settlement  of  the  question  of  the  northern 
boundary  of  Oregon  than  would  have  been  conceded 
had  we  not  at  the  time  been  burdened  with  the  Mexican 

COnteSt. 

Tin-  American  navy  rendered  very  valuable  services 
in  the  war  with  Mexico.  The  enemy  had  no  navy, 
therefore  there  were  no  engagements  upon  the  sea.  But 
the  blockade  so  effectually  enforced  by  the  skill  and 
igilance  of  the  navy  greatly  contributed  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  food,  munitions  of  war  and  even  skilled  officers 
nid  soldiers,  which  other  nations  would  have  willingly 
sent  into  Mexico  but  for  the  presence  of  the  navy.     The 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  53 

effective  action  of  the  Pacific  squadron  lias  already  been 
stated,  and  it  consisted  of  three  frigates  and  six  other 
war  vessels,  carrying  in  all  275  guns. 

The  gulf  squadron  under  Commodore  Perry  num 
bered  seven  ships  of  war,  four  steamers  and  one  brig. 
On  the  14th  of  November  the  fleet  took  possession  of 
Tampico.  In  the  same  month  Tuspan  and  Tabasco 
were  captured.  Both  of  these  cities  were  well  defended 
by  Mexican  troops  and  fortifications,  and  the  latter 
place  being  about  100  miles  up  a  narrow  and  crooked 
river  with  defenses,  the  navy  had  severe  fighting  on 
both  water  and  land,  but  accomplished  the  capture  of 
all  defenses  and  finished  their  work  with  great  credit. 

In  the  assault  upon  Vera  Cruz  and  San  Juan 
d'Ulua  the  navy  co-operated  with  the  army  on  both  land 
and  water. 


STATISTICS 


Op   the   Unitkd   States    Army   Engaged   in  the 
Mexican   War. 

The  following  tables  show  the  number  of  regulars  and 
volunteers,  the  number  furnished  by  each  state,  and  the 
total  strength  and  losses  of  the  army: 

REGULARS. 

Original  army  in  Texas,  May,   [846 3»554 

Number  of  recruits  sent  up  to  April  r,  1848 29,603 


Total  regulalars 33>I57 


54 


HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 


VOLUNTEERS    FURNISHED  BY  EACH    STATE. 

Arkansas 1 ,423 

Alabama    3,01 1 

California 558 

Florida 323 

Georgia 2>°47 

Indiana 4»47° 

Illinois 5.973 

Iowa 229 

Kentucky 4,800 

Louisiana ? : 7.448 

Massachusetts 1 ,047 

Maryland  and  the  1  >istrict  of  Columbia 1 ,330 

Michigan 972 

Missouri 6,739 

Mississippi 2>3:9 

Mormons 585 

New  York 2,665 

New  Jersey 424 

North  Carolina 936 

( >hio 4,694 

Pennsylvania 2,464 

Sou       Carolina 1,054 

Tennessee 5,410 

is 6,672 

inia 1,303 

Wisconsin 146 

Total  volunteers 69,042 

THE    NAVY. 

The  number  of  officers,  marines  and  enlisted  sailors 
may  not,  in  the  ab  ;ence  of  complete  statistics,  be  stated 
with  accuracy;  bit!  more  than    10,000  men  contributed 


AND  MEXICAN  WAR.  55 

to  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  performing  duty  on  ship- 
board as  a  part  of  the  American  navy,  and  are  right- 
fully embraced  in  the  number  of  combatants  doing  duty 
in  the  Mexican  war,  thus  bringing  the  aggregate  up  tc 
more  than  1 10,000  in  regulars,  volunteers  and  the  navy. 
The  actual  number  in  service  in  Mexico  exceeded  80,- 
000.  This  number  was  not  called  out  at  one  time,  but 
in  successive  periods. 

At  the  time  that  the  war  closed,  the  adjutant 
general  of  the  army  reported  that  there  were  actually 
more  than  40,000  men  in  the  field. 

Of  this  number  [50  officers  and  1,500  men  died  in 
battle  (  r  from  wounds  received  there;  100  officers  and 
12,000  men  perished  by  disease,  always  more  fatal  than 
shot  or  shell;  and  many  more  were  ruined  in  health  or 
disabled  by  wounds — in  all  about  25,000  men  laid  down 
their  lives  or  sacrificed  their  health  in  the  war. 

Of  those  who  gave  their  lives  on  the  battle  field,  or 
who  died  in  hospitals,  thousands  lie  in  unmarked  and 
unrecognizable  graves,  all  along  the  routes  of  advance 
and  around  the  captured  cities  in  Mexico. 

In  the  American  cemetery,  located  in  the  western 
suburbs  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  over  400  victims  to  shot, 
shell  or  disease,  rest  in  one  common  grave,  and  over 
their  remains  their  country  has  erected  a  monument 
which  honors  their  place  of  sepulture. 

Among  the  chivalrous  soldiers  who  fell  at  Buena 
Vista,  and  whose  bodies  were  returned  to  their  native 
states  for  sepulture,  were  Colonel  McKee  and  Lieuten- 
ant Colonel  Henry  Clay,  junior  of  Kentucky. 

The  ceremonies  of  burial  were  made  additionally 
impressive  by  the  recital  of  the  following  poem,  written 
by  Theodore  O'Harra  for  the  occasion. 


56  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 


THE  BIVOUAC  OF  THE  DEAD. 

The  muffled  drum's  sad  roll  has  beat 

The  soldier's  last  tatto; 
No  more  on  life's  parade  shall  meet 

The  brave  and  daring  few. 
On  fame's  eternal  camping  ground 

Their  silent  tents  are  spread, 
And  glory  guards  with  solemn  round 

The  bivouac  of  the  dead. 

No  rumor  of  the  foe's  advance 

Now  swells  upon  the  wind; 
No  troubled  thought  at  midnight,  haunts 

of  loved  ones  left  behind; 
No  vision  of  the  morrow's  strife 

The  warrior's  dream  alarms; 
No  braying  horn  or  screaming  fife 

At  dawn  .shall  call  to  arms. 

Tluir  shivered  swords  are  red  with  rust, 
Their  plumed  heads  are  bowed; 

Their  haughty  banner  trailed  in  dust 
Is  now  their  martial  shroud. 

And  plenteous  funereal  tears  have  washed 
The  red  stains  from  each  brow, 

And  their  ]>n>ud  forms  in  battle  gashed 
\m   free  from  anguish  now. 

The  neighing  steed,  the  Hashing  blade, 

The  trumpet's  stirring  blast, 
The  charge,  the  dreadful  cannonade, 

The  din  and  shout  are  past; 

Xi>r  war's  wild  note  n<>r  glory's  peal 
Shall  thrill  with  fierce  delight 

breasts  that  never  more  shall  feel 
The  i  apture  of  the  fight. 


AND  MIX  If. IX   WAR.  57 


I,ike  the  fierce  northern  h-nrricane 

That  sweeps  the  great  plateau, 
Flushed  with  the  victory  yet  to  gain, 

Came  down  the  serried  foe. 
Who  heard  the  thunder  of  the  fray 

Break  o'er  the  field  beneath, 
Knew  well  the  watchword  of  the  day 

Was  "Victory  or  death!" 

Pull  many  a  norther's  breath  has  swept 

O'er  Angostura's  plain; 
And  1'mg  the  pitying  sky  has  wept 

Above  its  mouldered  slain. 
The  eagle's  scream  or  raven's  flight 

Or  shepherd's  pensive  lay 
Alone  now  wake  each  solemn  height 

That  frowned  o'er  that  dread  day. 

Sons  of  the  "dark  and  bloody  ground,'' 

Ye  must  not  slumber  there, 
Where  stranger  steps  and  tongues  resound 

Along  the  heedless  air. 
Your  own  proud  land's  heroic  soil 

Shall  be  your  fitter  grave. 
She  claims  from  war  her  richest  spoil— 

The  ashes  of  the  brave. 

So  'neath  their  parent  turf  they  rest. 

Far  from  the  gory  field; 
Borne  to  the  Spartan  mother's  breast 

On  many  a  bloody  shield; 
The  sunshine  of  their  native  sky 

Smiles  sadly  on  them  here, 
And  kindred  eyes  and  hearts  watch,  by 

The  heroes'  sepulchre. 


58  HISTORY  OF  TEXAS 


Rest  on,  embalmed  and  sainted  dead. 

Dear  as  the  blood  ye  gave! 
No  impious  footsteps  here  shall  tread 

TI16  herbage  of  your  grave; 
Not  shall  your  glory  be  forgot 

While  Fame  her  record  keeps, 
Or  Honor  points  the  hallowed  spot 

Where  Valor  proudly  sleeps. 

Yon  marble  minstrel's  voiceful  stone 

In  deathless  song  shall  tell, 
When  many  a  vanished  age  hath  flown, 

The  st< iry  how  ye  fell, 
Nor  wreck,  nor  change,  nor  -winter'.,  blight, 

or  time's  remorseless  do<  m 
Shall  dim  one  ray  of  holy  light 

That  gilds  your  glorious  tomb. 


TA  1  ;s. 

® 


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University  of  California  Library 
Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


w 


3 1§§S 

REC'D  C.L   DEC  lV$  °EC1  4  1990 
>0 


4  M/K  MAR  2  5  mj 
APR  08 '97    reccl 

4  WK  MAY  1  2  1997 


41584 


DEC  18 '08 
4WKDEC  15  2000 


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ii  ■ 
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'H 


UC  SOUTHERN  S^Sl  JuSlM 

AA    001092  636   8 


